Star Wars Episode Zero: Trials of the Jedi
by Guardian Kitch
Summary: A Jedi Knight and a Padawan she'll not accept. An Apprentice and a Jedi Knight he knows not. A reluctant bond forged from the flames of the Force as, together and alone behind enemy lines, they learn a dark, shocking truth that could shatter the Republic. Seperated and fighting for their very souls, they must band together in a showdown three thousand years in the making...
1. Shroud of the Dark Side

**Okay, before we continue, there are a few things you should know. First, this particular storyline is one I've tried several times and in several different methods. However, I've always run into problems with it. However, you should be pleased to know that I now have the first fifteen chapters of this story ready to go. I will, however, post them one at a time, and then only if this chapter gets enough positive reviews. With that said, please tell me what you think of this story, good or bad. **

**For those of you who are unfamiliar with this story, it begins in the closing minutes of _Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace _and deals with a cast of original characters.**

**And, as always, I don't own Star Wars. Sadly, it now belongs to Disney. Yes, you've heard me correct; Disney has bought Star Wars from its creator, Mr. George Lucas. So, on with the show.**

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_**Chapter One: Shroud of the Dark Side**_

{**Location: **Jedi Temple, Coruscant}

_ An orb of blue and green, sitting peacefully in space. A beautiful planet, inhabited by a peaceful people. A peaceful people, dedicated to give back to those less fortunate...a planet of peace no one could possibly hate. Naboo._

_ An orb of blue and green, sitting in space. A peaceful planet, sitting at the mercy of orbiting ships of war. A beautiful planet, at the mercy of mechanic and alien invaders. A peaceful people, dying in prison camps not fit for a Hutt._

_ The young apprentice could see all this and more, he could see it as though he was there himself, witnessing the brutal Trade Federation occupation of the peaceful planet of Naboo. He could sense the suffering of her people, their fear of losing their freedom, of saying good-bye to all they knew, the things they held dear and near to them, he could sense their fear of dying under the rule of the greedy Neimoidians, and the magnitude of it all caused tears to well up in the young Jedi's eyes._

_ Suddenly the scene before his eyes changed and no longer was he receiving a tourist's view of Naboo but was now on ground level, inside a massive hanger full of sleek Naboo starfighters and dozens of battle droids._

_ He heard the sound of massive hanger doors hissing open and as he turned to look he saw two Jedi lightsabers, green and blue, burst into existence as blaster fire erupted all around him, and immediately he ducked for cover, only to realize he was quite safe...this wasn't real._

_ He recognized both of his fellow Jedi immediately...Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and both of them seemed to be fighting a purely defensive battle, protecting one person, a young woman, not much older than he, in a battle tunic wielding a single sleek blaster pistol, firing at the droids immediately nearest her._

"Annie, find cover, quick." _Master Jinn ordered as the woman ordered her pilots to man their ships. A sandy-haired boy took off like a bolt of lightning from behind the Jedi Master, seeking shelter behind a container of starfighter fuel, and he couldn't help but wonder why a Jedi Master would bring an innocent child who was unable to defend himself into a battle zone._

_ The Naboo ships began taxiing towards the exit and then suddenly began taking off for space, the remaining freedom fighters ducking to avoid being hit as they flew overhead, and as the last of the fighters shot off for battle above he watched the sandy-haired boy called Annie race from his hiding place, apparently discovering that hiding behind a fuel container during a firefight wasn't the best of ideas, and he continued to watch as the boy took cover in the cockpit of one of the Naboo fighters that had not been claimed._

_ He watched the battle wind down for the next several minutes as the droids were cut down and at long last the band of freedom fighters retook control of the royal hanger. As everyone finished securing the hanger the woman whom Master Jinn and Obi-Wan had been protecting turned to regard a dark-skinned man in a guard's uniform._

"My guess is the Viceroy's in the throne room." _She suggested._

"Red Group, Blue Group, everybody this way!" _He shouted, motioning with his own pistol towards a second set of hanger doors that obviously led deeper into the Theed Palace. Everyone followed the pair, Master Jinn and his Padawan bringing up the rear._

"Hey, wait for me!"_ Annie shouted, standing up and preparing to jump down from his safe position in the ship's cockpit._

"Anakin, stay where you are; you'll be safe there." _Master Jinn instructed sternly, his voice leaving little room for argument, and what little room he did leave for argument the boy seemed intent on taking for his own._

"But I-"

"Stay in that cockpit." _This time the elderly Jedi Master left _no _room for argument, causing the boy to plop back down into the cockpit dejectedly._

_ As the group neared the hanger doors they suddenly slid open, and as they parted the group revealed a dark-robbed man standing with his head bowed, looking at the floor, and immediately a wave of dark, evil energy washed over him, causing his knees to buckle and his stomach to want to exit through his mouth, and the young apprentice soon found he couldn't help but move forward to get a better view of the figure, the figure that suddenly made him question everything he knew, question every last teaching the Jedi had bestowed upon him over the years...he could feel anger and hatred rising up as he remembered everyone who had picked on him when he was younger, when he had still yet to master his techniques and abilities with the Force...he took a deep breath and centered himself, remembering his teachings...he had just encountered the Dark Side of the Force._

_ The figure looked up at the approaching group of freedom fighters as they raised their blasters towards him, and immediately Kitch saw shocking, glowing yellow eyes set in a face of red and black tattoos, markings he recognized from the Archives as Sith Tattoos...his fellow Jedi were facing down a Sith Lord with no fear at all._

"We'll handle this." _Master Jinn stated._

_ "_We'll take the long way." _The woman, now obviously a leading member of the Naboo government, said as she began leading her people away from the three Force-wielders._

_ Almost immediately a trio of wheel-like droids rolled into the hanger, blocking their way, but Kitch didn't pay attention to that battle; he was too focused on the coming duel between Jedi and Sith._

_ The Sith Lord extracted a longer-than-usual cylinder from his hilt and brought it horizontal, a bar of red energy igniting on its right side, and for a moment he couldn't help but wonder what style the enemy was using, for it was one he didn't recognize...until he realized a second bar of energy was going to emerge from the weapon's left side as well...and mere moments later it transformed into a double-bladed lightsaber, and as both Jedi ignited their own weapons the match was locked._

_ He watched as the two Jedi worked in tandem to drive the Sith Lord back, though he knew the dark figure was allowing it in an attempt to lead them further away from backup that could potentially destroy him. _

_ The dark figure then somersaulted, using the Force to hurl a battle droid's disconnected head through the air and into a control panel, opening yet another hanger door, and the battle between good and evil only intensified as the three combatants entered a massive reactor room, one that seemed not to have a floor in sight, though there were dozens of catwalks extending all across the massive space in every direction._

_ He watched as both Jedi chased the Sith deeper and deeper into the Reactor Core, blue and green clashing against red as they fought to subdue their opponent._

_ Sadly for them, however, the Sith remained in control of the duel, knocking Obi-Wan several meters below with a massive strike, though Qui-Gon returned the favor in kind, allowing him to jump down after the Sith and thus close some of the distance between him and his apprentice. _

_ The Sith was quick to return to his feet however, catching Master Jinn with a quick strike to the face that gave him the room he needed to stand again, and so the Jedi Master and Sith Lord viciously and quickly progressed down the catwalk, lightsabers flashing as Obi-Wan used the Force to propel himself onto the catwalk in an attempt to join his master, and again he used the Force to speed himself up in order to reach his master in time._

_ As the duel progressed down a corridor Obi-Wan quickly closed the distance, but before he could succeed in this endeavor red ray shields emerged into existence, cutting Obi-Wan off from Master Jinn and cutting the master off from the Sith, who attempted to attack the energy shield as Master Jinn shut off his saber and sank to the ground to meditate and center himself._

_ For several moments the young apprentice watched the scene below, as the Sith Lord waited for the shields to shut off so he could again continue the hunt, as Master Jinn patiently meditated, as Obi-Wan paced back and forth impatiently, more than ready to join his master._

_ The young apprentice could not believe the Force had allowed him to view this battle, the first known duel between a Jedi and Sith in over one thousand years, and it was even harder to try and come up with a reason as to why. He was no more special than any other Jedi, nowhere near the strongest, and most certainly not the smartest, and yet the Force was always showing him special visions, not of the future but of the present, and of the past._

_ Suddenly, after what seemed like an eternity, the shields shut off and immediately the Jedi Master reignited his weapon, as did his apprentice and the Sith Lord, and the battle was rejoined. _

_ Master Jinn and the Sith made it out the other end of the corridor, now dueling along the edges of a deep pit, but as Obi-Wan approached the final shield generator it kicked back to life, the young Padawan Learner stopping just short of the deadly wall, now helpless as he watched his master battle against the Sith Lord all alone._

_ Qui-Gon Jinn was a powerful Jedi Master, and he had more experience in the field than most other Jedi, but he was just too old and too exhausted, not to mention the fourth Form, Ataru, was no match for the deadly Sith's powerful form of Juyo, though the young observer also suspected he might have some training in the twin-bladed form of Jar-Kai as well...Kitch knew that, unless Obi-Wan managed to intervene soon to assist his master the elderly Jedi would not last much longer against the Sith Lord who was in his prime._

_ And then it happened. The Sith Lord brought his weapon's elongated hilt up and under, slamming it into Master Jinn's chin, knocking him back and momentarily stunning him, and before he could react the Sith Lord reversed and slid his blade right through Master Jinn's abdomen, and though he saw Obi-Wan's lips move in a horrified scream the Padawan's scream was drowned out by the observer's own yell of horror..._

Jedi Apprentice Kitch Surik, all of eleven years old, woke with a start. His chest heaving as his heart raced his eyes dashed around the room, desperate to assist his fellow apprentice, but he quickly realized he was unable to do so, for at that moment he was sitting up on his small cot in his quarters at the Jedi Temple, far away from the planet of Naboo.

His body told him he needed sleep, having gone through a tremendous physical amount of training earlier that day, but no matter what he might try his mind refused to allow him to do so; he was awake for the foreseeable future, and nothing he could do would change that.

He could not understand why the Force chose to show him these visions, as unusual as they were. They weren't usually visions of the future, as was normal, but rather visions of the present. He sighed as he exited his quarters, not bothering to gather his training lightsaber; not even the Masters could explain why he was having these visions, other than the time-old explanation about the Will of the Force.

He'd long since given up on finding the answer himself. He had spent countless hours combing through the Jedi Archives, his true home, looking for cases of other Jedi who had possessed similar visions, but to no avail; not a single Jedi in over twenty-five thousand years had ever reported being shown visions of not the future but of the present, and as such he'd surrendered himself to the fact that he was the first, and thus there would be many questions he'd likely never have answered about his powers.

Oddly enough, however, it wasn't the vision itself that had Kitch so on-edge, but rather what he'd seen within. The Zabrak warrior had worn ancient Sith tattoos, markings not seen in the galaxy in over one thousand years. He'd used a double-bladed lightsaber, a weapon created by the Sith Lord Exar Kun thousands of years ago, a weapon almost always used by the Dark Lords of the Sith. And the Force presence...Kitch shuddered; he still felt tainted by the call of the dark powers that being had owned. He had felt it beckon to him, promising him power as he'd never known, and though they had been separated by thousands of light-years he still felt weak and vulnerable to such power.

If his feelings were true, if what he'd seen had really happened, then the Sith had returned, as powerful as ever, and they had slain one of the most powerful Jedi currently alive.

Sliding out of his bunk he took off for the exit to his room, not stopping to collect his training lightsaber; he never used it, not even in training; if, in the unlikely event he ran into trouble, he would not use it.

As the young apprentice exited his quarters and set off, not really considering any destination in particular, he reflected once more on his _'unique'_ approach to lightsaber combat and his dedication to what was commonly referred to by his fellow Jedi as Form Zero. He never activated his weapon, not even in the most dire of circumstances, because, in the young apprentice's view, the Jedi had come to rely far to much on their weapons, diminishing the powers of the Force. Whereas Jedi were commonly called on because of their affinity with the Force they were now often called in because few could withstand battle against the lightsaber, that most mythical of weapons. He hoped that, as his training progressed and he became ever more skilled, others would heed his example and the warning lying therein, realizing that a Jedi's true power and authority came not from that weapon but from the mystical oneness of the Force.

However, the road to that destiny seemed to be paved with potholes and mines. While he had been considered advanced for his age, being put into classes with students much older than himself, his progress had since been limited. He was currently ranked near the bottom of his class, and at that rate he would never be taken on as a Padawan Learner, being resigned instead to a life working with the AgriCorps, any Jedi apprentice's worst nightmare come true. Sure, the AgriCorps and other branches of Jedi service to which dropouts from the Temple were assigned were considered a proud and noble work, but it still didn't compare to the prestige and pride that came with being called a Jedi Knight.

In all of his thoughts the young apprentice only just noticed that he'd arrived at his favorite spot in the entire galaxy; the Room of A Thousand Fountains, easily the Temple's calmest place; if anything could help him escape the taint of that Zabrak Sith Lord then it would be his favorite, secluded spot, in the depths of the Fountains.

Kitch wasted no time in getting to the spot of which he was now thinking. An old tree bent down over one of the larger ponds formed at the base of one of the cascading waterfalls, and it was under the large tree's massive trunk that Kitch Surik found solitude at long last.

He closed his eyes and quickly found his center, taking deep, calming breaths as he focused on that center, and with the cool mist created by the water crashing into the pond of water washing over him it wasn't long at all before the effects of his brush with the Dark Side began to fade away, allowing him to feel like a Jedi once more. Unfortunately, it also allowed him to discover that he wasn't alone.

The presence in the Force he felt burned like a supernova all alone in the galaxy, easily outshining anything or anyone else that was within several kilometers of their position. Kitch shuddered involuntarily; if something was preventing the Grand Master of the Jedi Order from sleeping then it was obviously worse than any child could fathom...and then Kitch discovered there was a third Jedi nearby.

"Master Yoda." A woman's voice acknowledged respectfully, clearly startled by the aging Jedi Master's presence. "I didn't mean to startle you, my master...I'll leave-"

"Leave, you will not, Jedi Kavar." Yoda countered kindly. "Sense your anxiety well, I do. Come, take a seat and tell me of your worries, you shall."

"Of course, my master." The female Jedi Knight answered, and as their footsteps echoed throughout the Room of a Thousand Fountains Kitch did his best to pull up the face of the newly-knighted Lor Kavar.

He'd only seen her once or twice, during his walks throughout the Temple. She was barely 23 standard years of age, her sleek black hair kept up in a lose ponytail that fell past the middle of her back...it was rumored that her skills with the lightsaber rivaled those of her former master, Jedi Master Mace Windu.

"So, what keeps you up late this night, hmmm?" Yoda asked, kindly listening as the much younger Jedi Knight spoke.

"I've felt a disturbance in the Force, master." She explained. "It was like a sun that's burnt bright and hot for millions of years suddenly just winking out of existence. No warning, no supernova, just _poof_, gone in the blink of an eye, replaced by a great darkness, a darkness that can't be penetrated by anything, a darkness darker than even the blackest Black Hole."

The young apprentice's jaw crashed into the floor; he'd felt that precise same thing the moment that Sith Lord had impaled Master Jinn-

"Felt it too, I did." Yoda answered sadly. "Occurred, a terrible tragedy has. Lost one of our own, the Jedi have."

"But who?" Jedi Kavar asked. "Which of our Jedi has been slain?"

"Answer this question well, our young guest can."

"Master?"

"Alone, Jedi Kavar, we are not...overheard, our conversation has been. Come out, you may Apprentice Surik."

Kitch considered his chances. He was discovered and as such could no longer just sit there and do nothing, but if he surrendered to the two grown Jedi then he'd likely get in trouble for being up after hours...his only other option, though, would be take off running for the pool nearest him, jump in, and escape through the underwater tunnels...

"An unwise decision, running would be, hmmm?" Yoda asked with one of his trademark laughs.

"I apologize, Master Yoda; the only other Jedi I sense is you-"

"Your old hiding spot, Apprentice Surik has long ago discovered. If a Gundark he had been, bitten you, he would have."

The sound of footsteps again echoed throughout the fountains, and knowing it was done a pair of booted legs appeared in his vision, blocking his escape, and a moment later a woman's face peered into the hole, kindness and concern the only noticeable emotions in her hazel eyes.

Jedi Knight Lor Kavar said nothing but offered him a hand, which he reluctantly took, allowing the older Knight to pull him from his favorite spot.

"Relax, you should, hmmm?" Yoda asked as Lor led him to where she and the Grand Master had been sitting. "In trouble, you are not."

"I apologize for eavesdropping on you, Grand Master." Kitch apologized, taking a seat between the two. "I was...distracted."

"Share with us, you should, the reason you awoke early from your slumber."

"It was nothing, Master Yoda; I do not wish to waste your time with mere nightmares-"

"Wish to hear this, I do not." Yoda countered. "Waiting to hear, I am, of these _nightmares_ you have suffered."

Kitch considered whether or not to tell Yoda the truth about his most recent set of visions. While most of his masters considered these to be actual visions and not just dreams, Kitch had often forced himself into believing that his visions _were _just dreams, something one would never waste the Grand Master's time with-

"Suffered more visions, you have." Yoda said, surprising the young apprentice. He had said _more _in that sentence, meaning he knew about some of Kitch's previous visions-

"Grand Master of the Jedi Order, I am." Yoda continued. "Won this job in a raffle, I did not. Kept well informed by your instructors of your visions, I have been."

"I apologize, Master Yoda." Kitch said, realizing all too late the trap he'd walked into. "I was arrogant and foolish for believing my masters would keep these visions to themselves."

"Visions?" Lor Kavar asked, finally interrupting the dialogue. "You mean premonitions, right?"

"Visions of the future's possible routes, premonitions show us. Hmmm. Apprentice Surik's visions, of the present they are, not the future."

"I saw the planet Naboo." Kitch explained. "Master Qui-Gon was there, with a boy and his Padawan Learner, Obi-Wan."

"Hmmm. Yes, serve you well, your visions do. Assigned to protect the Nabbo queen, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi have been."

"They were fighting the Trade Federation battle droids." Kitch continued, pressing on through what he could remember of the vision. "Not attacking, just defending...but then there was a dark figure, a powerful warrior...a Lord of the Sith."

"It could only have been a nightmare." Lor cut him off kindly. "Kitch, the Sith Lords have been-"

"Extinct for over a thousand years." Kitch finished. "Yes, Master Kavar, I know, but the tattooed warrior I saw _was _a Sith; there's no other possible explanation for it."

"Interested, I am, in hearing of your logic in this conclusion, young one."

"It's the only thing that makes sense, Master Yoda." Kitch answered, ticking off his reasons one-by-one on his left hand. "He wore the tattoos of the Sith, he used a red, double-bladed lightsaber, like the one invented by Jedi-turned-Sith Exar Kun thousands of years ago, his presence was the darkest I've ever felt, and he fought with a style like a Sith."

"Tattoos, lightsabers, and fighting skills can be reproduced and duplicated." Lor Kavar responded, dismissing Kitch's reasoning.

"Correct, Jedi Kavar, you are, but no doubt there is; true, Qui-Gon was, in his assumption that the mysterious foe from Tatooine was a Sith Lord. Returned, they have."

"Master Yoda, with all due respect, how could the Dark Lords have returned without the Council knowing of it?"

"Shrouded, is the future; clouds everything, the Dark Side does. Troubling, it is, that foresee the return of the Sith Lords we could not see. Hmmm."

"Master," Kitch interrupted, unable to stop himself any longer. "Have you had any recent contact from Naboo?"

"Heard from Obi-Wan, we just did. Joined the Force, Qui-Gon Jinn has, as has his Sith attacker."

"Can I ask how the duel on Naboo ended?" Kitch asked slowly, hoping to the Force he wasn't overstepping his boundaries.

"Killed, Master Qui-Gon was, but defeated their Sith attacker, Obi-Wan has."

"Obi-Wan _defeated _a Sith Lord?" Lor asked, taken aback. "I'm not trying to take anything away from him, my master, because I of all people know how great of a Jedi Obi-Wan is, but for an apprentice to lose his master and still destroy a Lord of the Sith-"

"Surprised us all, young Kenobi has. Only a true Jedi Knight, fully in tune with the Force, could have defeated a Dark Lord of the Sith. Decided, the Council has, to Knight him."

"He'll like that." Lor commented. "And after Naboo I would also have to say he earned it."

"Agree with you, Jedi Kavar, I do; deserve this, Obi-Wan Kenobi does."

"What of the boy?" Lor asked. "Rumor has it that Qui-Gon believed he found the Chosen One on the dust ball known as Tatooine."

"Clouded is young Skywalker's future-"

"The little boy who was with Master Jinn and Obi-Wan on Naboo?" Kitch asked, a new piece to the puzzle now fitting together. "The last I saw of him he took cover in the cockpit of an unused Naboo fighter-"

"Used the Naboo fighter well, young Skywalker did. Surprised us as well, he did."

"The boy flew an N-1 into combat?" Lor asked incredulously.

"Fought against the Trade Federation, young Skywalker did. Landed his craft in the main hanger of the droid control ship, he did, and used a proton torpedo to blow the ship's main reactor. Strong with the Force, Anakin Skywalker is." As Yoda finished speaking, his ears flopped down closer to his head, as though he didn't like what he was thinking.

"Master," Kitch said, speaking carefully. "You seem troubled."

"Agree with Anakin Skywalker's training as a Jedi, I do not. Clouded is his future, and grave danger I sense in his training. Hmm. Disagree with me, the Council does. Accepted the child for training as a Jedi Knight, they have."

"He looked to be almost ten years old!" Kitch exclaimed. "I know we've had Jedi join at much older ages, but the circumstances were dire and-"

"Made its decision, the Jedi Council has; change that, I cannot. Trust in the Force, we must, and in Obi-Wan's training."

"Master?" Lor asked.

"Informed us, Obi-Wan has, that wish to oversee young Skywalker's training, he does, in accordance with his fallen master's final wishes. Leaving in five hours, the Council is, to join Obi-Wan on Naboo for Qui-Gon's funeral pyre and to take custody of Viceroy Gunray and his remaining lieutenants. Joining us, our new Chancellor is."

"Master Yoda," Kitch continued. "Do you believe Palpatine will be able to seed out corruption in the Senate?"

"Again, young one, clouded is the future. His intentions, well they are, but unknown it is if succeed he will. Know I do, though, hmmm, that need sleep, young Kitch, you do."

Kitch recognized his dismissal, surprised that he had been allowed to listen in on such a high-leveled conversation, something Yoda seemed to sense.

"Trust, I do, that between us this conversation will stay, hmm?"

"Of course, Master Yoda, you have my word."

"Gifts from the Force are your unique visions, Apprentice Surik. In time, learn to control them, you will."

"Good night, Master Yoda, Master Kavar, and thank you for speaking with me. I do feel better now."

* * *

Both Jedi bad the young apprentice farewell as he turned and headed back for his quarters, his heart heavy at the loss of a Jedi Master but his mind feeling better after the talk with his two fellow Jedi.

"Assuming, I am, that prepared for your next mission, you are." Yoda said once he and Lor Kavar were alone once more.

"I am, in most ways." Lor admitted. "I plan on visiting the Archives again before leaving out for Termina, make sure I have the most information possible on my assignment."

"Now that returned, the Sith have, more important than ever your mission has become."

"Master, the Council only _just _assigned me this mission; is it because Qui-Gon believed he was attacked on Tatooine by a Sith Lord?"

Yoda nodded. "Feels, the Council does, that the information hidden in the sublevels of the ancient enclave on Termina could help us defend against the second Sith Lord."

"There's a _second _Sith?"

"Always two, there are; no more, no less. Hmm. A master, and an apprentice."

"Which one was destroyed though, the master, or the apprentice?"

"Elude us all, this knowledge does."

"Well, when I get the texts from the enclave and bring them back then we can study them and find this second Dark Lord."

"A dangerous mission, this will be, even for a Jedi Knight. Perhaps an apprentice, you should take...a fine Padawan, our young Apprentice Surik would make you, hmmm?"

"Force no!" Lor found herself exclaiming. "Master Yoda, I've only been a Jedi Knight for a few months, if that; I'm not ready to train an apprentice! Besides, the boy's only, what, ten?"

"Eleven." Yoda corrected. "And age matters not."

"With all due respect, Master Yoda, to both you and Apprentice Surik, I've heard stories about the boy."

"Trust all rumors, you should not, young one."

"Master Drallig recently told me that the boy has never even activated his training saber, to the point that it costs him in training."

"Dedicated to Form Zero, the boy is."

"Perhaps _too _dedicated. Don't get me wrong, Master Yoda, I know the Jedi who dedicate themselves to this form are intimate with the knowledge of when to draw their blades and when not to, but the kid seems to have only gotten the last half of that right."

Yoda nodded his head. "Much to learn, the child still has, yes, and who better to teach him, Jedi Kavar?"

"Master, if I took an apprentice it would be one I would be able to trust in combat or in dangerous situations like what I'll be in on Termina, not a Padawan I'd have to protect in addition to myself."

"Surprise you, young Surik can, if given the chance he is. Intimate, he is, with the knowledge found within our Archives. Expect him to one day surpass her, Madame Jocasta does."

"That's fine and all, Master Yoda, and if the boy succeeds then I would be extremely proud of him, but even if I _were _ready to take on a Padawan it would not be Kitch Surik, especially on a mission like this."

"Much to learn, Jedi Kavar, you still have." Yoda chuckled as he slid off of the log-turned-seat. "And learn this lesson, you will." And with those words the Grand Master of the Jedi Order hobbled away, leaving the stunned Jedi Knight alone with her thoughts.

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**Okay, so honestly, what'd ya'll think? Good or bad, let me know, won't you? Just curious, but does anyone recgonize Kitch's last name? If you do, feel free to blurt it out.**

**If you like this then feel free to check out any original work I come up with by visiting my website, the URL of which may be found on my profile page for this site. I hope to hear from ya'll and see ya soon with another great chapter.**


	2. The Knight and the Librarian

**Okay, because I have like the first fourteen chapters of this fic done in its original version, meaning all I have to do is some light modifications and editing, I figured it'd be nice to go ahead and post the second chapter, edited and slightly modified to fit my new storyline for it. **

**And, of course, as usual, I don't own _Star Wars_, which now belongs to Disney...I don't think I'll ever get used to that. Anyways, here's Chapter Two. On with the show!**

* * *

**ADDITIONAL STORIES BY **Guardian Kitch**:**

_**Jedi Wasteland (Star Wars)**_

_**Teen Titans: The Approaching Storm (Teen Titans/Star Wars)**_

_**Sins of the Father (Harry Potter)**_

_**Labyrinth of Evil (Harry Potter)**_

_**Gates to Terabithia (Bridge to Terabithia)**_

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_**Chapter Two: The Knight and the Librarian**_

{**Location: **Jedi Temple, Coruscant}

Morning came far too quickly for Kitch Surik, and as a result he felt incredibly sleepy, even as he ate his morning meal alone and in silence, replaying his late conversation with Masters Kavar and Yoda in his brain.

Following his morning meal he again replayed that conversation and the vision that had preceded it over and over again in his mind, hoping somehow to gain some extra intelligence or foresight. That information, however, eluded him as he failed to gain any additional wisdom or knowledge from these events.

To say that the young apprentice was distracted would have been tantamount to calling Hoth chilly, or Mustafar warm; it would have been like saying Yoda was small and old, like calling the Sith evil. Unfortunately, this distraction was now proving to be too much, as he would soon discovered.

_"Gifts from the Force are your unique visions, Apprentice Surik. In time, learn to control them, you will."_

Did Yoda know more about these visions than he was letting on to? If so then did the Grand Master know what they meant? If so then why was he keeping this information from the young apprentice, who, to Kitch's knowledge, was the first (and only) Jedi in history to suffer them?

These questions and many more raced through the apprentice's mind, and he was so busy with those questions that he failed to notice the green bar of plasma until it was almost too late; only by throwing himself to the ground at the last possible moment did Kitch Surik avoid losing the bout.

"HALT!" A rough man's voice ordered, and immediately the second apprentice's lightsaber shut off.

"Apprentice Surik, come here." He ordered, and as Kitch approached the Jedi Master he hurriedly stammered out his apology.

"Master Drallig," He breathed, gasping for breath. "I apologize; I was distracted."

"That much is obvious, young one." Cin Drallig answered. "Clear your mind of your distractions, focus on your objective, and keep your thoughts in the here and now, with you opponent."

"Yes, master." He answered, closing his eyes and taking several deep, calming breaths. He forced the conversation and vision out of his mind, knowing there would be time for reflection later, when he wasn't being attacked by a fellow Jedi Apprentice.

"Better." Cin Drallig answered, clearly sensing Kitch's focus and concentration slowly returning. "Now, just so we're clear; what is your objective, Apprentice Surik?"

"To defend myself against Padawan Onasi and to defeat him."

"Will you draw your lightsaber in self-defense?" The master asked him. "That _is_ why you have it, after all."

"I will only draw my blade, Master Drallig, if I am left with absolutely no other option."

"I see. Well, at least you're not too distracted to remain stubborn. Padawan Onasi, I believe you have a mission to prepare for, so Apprentice Surik you can head to the Archives and download the footage from this morning's training session. I want you to watch that holovid and prepare a report for me, due tomorrow afternoon. In that report you are to include where you went wrong today, what you can do to fix those mistakes, and seeing as how you're so dedicated to not using a lightsaber even against other lightsaber-wielding opponents, I want you to include tips and suggestions on how to be more effective in combat using that form."

"Yes, Master Drallig." Both apprentices answered in unison, offering the Battle Master their own respective bows before turning and walking off together.

"Kitch," Pax spoke as the two friends exited the training room. "I am fearful that something is wrong with you."

"I'm fine Pax, late night is all."

"I am assuming you have had another of your visions."

"I have." Kitch confirmed. He knew he'd given Yoda his word that he'd tell no one else of the conversation they had had last night, but Pax was his best friend, nay, his brother, and the two shared everything with each other. Besides, Kitch thought with amusement as a realization suddenly dawned on him, he wasn't telling Pax about the conversation, just the vision.

"Continue please." Pax encouraged.

"I saw Master Jinn get killed; I-I think it was a Sith Lord."

"I have been most curious as to when the Sith would make their return." Pax responded, sounding nonplused by Kitch's startling revelation.

"You're okay with this?" He asked, stunned by his friend's attitude towards the fact that the most evil force the galaxy had ever known had returned once more.

"Of course I am not okay with this, Kitch, but I _do _accept it."

"You _accept _it?" Kitch asked, suddenly questioning the other boy's sanity.

"I do." Pax explained. "We members of the Jedi Order are taught to accept death, that it is a natural part of life, of the Force. The same could be said of darkness and of evil. With no life there can be no death. With no death never could there be life. Darkness cannot exist without light, and light is nothing without dark. The absence of good means the absence of evil, and where evil does not exist neither does good exist. A hero cannot survive without a villain, and a villain has no role without a hero."

Kitch's mouth nearly hit the floor as the two apprentices continued towards the Jedi Archives. He'd never thought of it that way before, but as he thought on it, his friend's words seemed to make more and more sense...suddenly he felt more at ease over the previous night's events.

"I am pleased I could be of assistance with your troubles."

"You really have been." Kitch answered, patting Pax on the back. "You're right too; the Sith may be back, but there's an entire Order of Jedi able and ready to stop them and put them in their place once more."

"And as our Grand Master would state, do their duty, the Jedi will." Pax answered in a near-perfect imitation of the head of the Jedi Order, causing Kitch to laugh as they finally entered the Archives.

"So, where are you and your new Master off to?" Kitch asked moments later as the two boys took their seats at their respective terminals.

"Hydia." Pax answered as Kitch began uploading the training footage from the duel he and Pax had just finished. "The royal family's only child has gone missing and so Master Talia and I are off to find her, arrest the persons responsible, and return the princess safe and sound to her family."

"Sounds fun...wish I had a mission to look forward to, but nope, it's just me and the most extensive collection of information in the universe for an entire day."

"A day free of classes and training, allowing you to spend time with your much beloved Archive texts." Pax summed up, smiling now as well. "It would appear to me, Kitch, that your birthday is being celebrated early."

"It _does_ look to be a great day." Kitch agreed, a smile on his face. The sun was just now beginning to rise, meaning the official day of study and training known to most students within the Temple was still an hour away; he had over nine hours of interrupted face time with the texts of the Jedi Order.

"I would assume of course, you will be preparing that report for Battle Master Cin Drallig, yes?"

"Nah, I can do that tonight on my own time. I think I may do some more research into the Jedi Civil War."

"Fascinating subject, I am sure, but I must be meeting up with Master Talia." Pax responded, logging out of the terminal he was sitting at as he placed his own datapad back into his robes. "I have the requested intelligence on my first mission and there is little spare time to expend. I shall, of course, speak with you immediately following my return from Hydia, Kitch."

"Farewell, Pax." Kitch answered as he stood up and the two friends embraced. "May the Force be with you."

"And you as well, my friend."

As Kitch watched his best friend leave he noticed a familiar form enter the Archives, her black hair swinging back and forth in its usual ponytail.

"Master Kavar." Kitch greeted, offering a bow to the Jedi Knight as he secured his datapad.

"Apprentice Surik." The Knight acknowledged. "Aren't you up rather early for an apprentice?"

"I had an early morning training session with Padawan Onasi and Master Drallig."

"Nothing like a good sparing exercise with a fellow apprentice to get awake and ready for the day." She commented, leading him to the same terminal Pax had been operating moments before. "How did it go?"

"I lost, like always." Kitch admitted. "I was...distracted by last night."

"Well, with that vision you had I would be surprised if you weren't. Do you mind if I ask you a question?" She asked, now delving into the research needed to prepare her for her own mission.

"Of course, Master Kavar." Kitch answered politely. "Knowledge is meant to be shared, and as such I will do my utmost best to provide you with an answer to your question."

"Are the rumors about you true?"

"Rumors, Master Kavar?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, Apprentice Surik, but I _am_ curious; do you _never _draw a lightsaber in combat, even to the point where you lose?"

"Ah, I see." Kitch answered with a slight nod of his head. "This isn't rumor, Master Kavar, it's fact. You know, I don't think I even remember what color my blade is."

"Can I ask why you never draw your weapon?" She asked, eyeing him as though she'd never seen anything like him before.

"I believe, Master Kavar, as I feel my research will prove, that Jedi Knights and even Jedi Masters rely too much on their lightsabers. From the general reports filed with the Council I have deduced that Jedi often refer to their lightsabers to do their work for them rather than the Force and diplomacy."

"I see...I _think_."

"Master Kavar, the very first thing we Jedi are taught upon our entry into the Order is that we draw our powers and abilities _from _the Force, which flows through all living things in this universe."

"Right." Lor acknowledged. "Many, myself included, would consider that to be the basic foundation of our Order."

"It is my belief, based on the current level of research I have reached, that Jedi rely too much on lightsabers and not enough on the Force. Our weapons are powerful." Kitch conceded. "Aside from the ultra-rare Cortosis Alloy, a substantial amount of water, or another lightsaber, no known substance in this universe can block a lightsaber's blade. They can absorb or deflect blaster fire, repair damage done to weapons, ship hulls, and other essential items, the list goes on and on. But, despite all a lightsaber does, it does _not _give a Jedi his or her power. Without the Force we Jedi would be nothing more than average citizens of the Republic using an advanced weapon most consider to be out-of-date."

"You've put a lot of thought into this, Apprentice Surik."

"I've been forced to. At first, when I was put into a lightsaber training class advanced for my age, not drawing my lightsaber was only instinctive, as though I knew it to be wrong, even though I didn't know _why. _As time progressed though, and my lightsaber training began to falter and fail,I was forced, you could say, to come up with an acceptable reason to explain my actions."

"Forced?"

"This is nothing to be ashamed of, Master Kavar. I am proud of the Jedi Apprentice I have become. I may not be the best swordsman in the galaxy, but I can live with that, for I will still be one of the best_ Jedi _in the galaxy. With all due respect, Master, your lightsabers are your life. Under Master Windu's tutelage you have achieved a considerable ranking in both the styles of Jar'Kai and Vapaad, and while you still have a long ways to go to achieve Mastery of either Form you would be a destructive foe on the field of battle if forced to take it that far." As he finished speaking he unclipped his lightsaber's hilt and handed it over to the Jedi Knight, who took it with a quizzical look on her face, no longer looking at the terminal in front of her.

"That is my lightsaber, a weapon I have never once activated. What do you see?"

"I see the weapon of the Jedi Knights." Lor confessed. "As you yourself just finished saying, it is an amazing instrument. It can cause severe damage upon our enemies, repair damage done, deflect or absorb blaster fire, and can only be stopped by a trio of elements." She stopped for a moment before continuing with her own question. "What do _you _see when you look at this lightsaber?"

"I see not an instrument or even a weapon, but a symbol."

"A symbol?" Lor asked, taken aback. "A symbol of _what_?"

"As Jedi we are given only the most urgent of missions across the galaxy, missions that average ambassadors and politicians and even mercenaries can't handle. To be a Jedi Knight means to serve the betterment of the galaxy, to be ready at any moment to surrender yourself to the Force."

"Right." Lor summed up. "Jedi are taught to always accept their fate and the fate of those they care most about, the reason attachment is forbidden."

"In short, Jedi Knights walk an incredibly thin line between life and death, and at any moment any Jedi could go over that line, as Master Jinn did on Naboo. To me, the lightsaber is a symbol of that line between life and death. To do combat using a lightsaber takes great skill, and usually requires you to get up close and personal with your foe, which is the same as toeing the line between life and death.

"I have never defended myself, Master Kavar, through the use of a lightsaber, because I have never been _forced _to. In my training exercises I know I am safe, save the occasional bruise or burn. I will suffer no real damage to my body or soul, and I can live with that. I can use the Force to defend myself from my opponent, and if I win then I know my prowess with the Force is increasing."

"Again, I don't mean to offend you," Lor countered. "But didn't you just say you always lose?"

"I do indeed, which would suggest to us both that I still have much to learn, which is just as well; I'm only eleven, Master Kavar, and I don't foresee becoming a Padawan Learner anytime soon."

"You do know, don't you, that in two years, if you're not accepted as a Padawan, you'll be assigned to the AgriCorps, right?"

"If that's my destiny, then so be it." Kitch found himself saying. "I want nothing more than to be a Jedi Knight, don't get me wrong. I would be honored to serve the galaxy as a Knight of the Order. But, if, in two years, I am not seen by a Knight or Master as prepared to be a Jedi Knight then I don't _need _to be a Knight."

"Come again?"

"It would be just as disastrous, Master Kavar, in making someone a Knight when he or she isn't ready as it would be in sending a future Grand Master to the AgriCorps. If I am not prepared to continue on in becoming a Jedi Knight after thirteen years of training then it's obvious that it'd be better for all involved for me to be sent to the AgriCorps. I accept my destiny, Master Kavar, whatever it may be; I will take the future as a Jedi should. In the meantime, however, Master Kavar, perhaps I could be of some assistance; after all, I am sure you did not come here at such an early hour to talk philosophy with me."

"The Council has given me an assignment, but no matter how hard I try I can't seem to find any information on the planet I'm traveling to."

"Which planet did they send you to?" Kitch asked, looking over at her. "Perhaps I can be of assistance."

"I don't really want to bother you Apprent-"

"It's no bother at all, Master Kavar. I've got a day free from classes and training, and this is like my second home."

"Okay then." Lor answered, handing him her datapad. "I'm looking for any information on the planet Termina."

"Oh, I see." Kitch answered, the name clicking into his mind. "I was just researching it myself a week ago, back when I was restructuring some of our more out-of-date files." He answered, pulling up the information she needed.

"Out-of-date?" Lor asked.

"There have been no Jedi on Termina since the Treaty of Coruscant, back during our wars with the Sith."

"That was well over two, three, thousand years ago, Apprentice Surik."

"Yes, I know." Kitch answered. "Back when the Treaty was signed the planet was surrendered to the Sith, but before Jedi forces vacated our enclave there they hide some of our more _sensitive _texts there to keep that information from being taken captive by the Sith. According to what little information we have here, it was hidden in a vault deep underground, a vault layered with Cortosis Alloy and given enough armor to be immune to any then-known explosives. If it was done correctly, only a code kept only by the Grand Master of the Jedi Order could open those vaults."

"I've been given that code." Lor revealed. "What's the planet itself like?"

"If memory serves it's a normal life-giving and life-sustaining planet, though it's exceptionally large for a planet that's not a gas giant. It has the four basic seasons on most of its land masses, which range from vast oceans to lush jungles to harsh deserts and icy mountains."

"Any natives?"

"There were some colonies based on the planet's surface back before the Treaty of Coruscant, and the Sith are reported to have taken over our conclave. However, when the Republic re-took the planet almost a century later it is believed that the Sith forces occupying it were withdrawn, and the Republic opted not to reactivate its garrison there, nor did the Jedi. There's been no contact with the planet since that time."

"Anything else?" Lor asked as he began downloading the information he had found her to her datapad.

"There are a variety of carnivorous animal species spread across the planet's surface. The most dangerous would likely be the Terminus Arachnid."

"Keep going?"

"It's a spider that grows to be the size of a standard escape pod, though some can be slightly larger. Their eight legs are situated with their body to give them amazing speed, and the venom they spit can paralyze a grown Wookie in a matter of minutes and a full-grown human in a matter of seconds."

"They spit venom?"

"Only the ones that have reached full maturity. Unlike most arachnids, their poison doesn't come from their fangs but from a poison sac located beneath their lungs and the millions of microscopic barbs that cover all eight of their legs. The venom has two effects. As I just mentioned, by contacting your skin the venom will fully paralyze you in seconds. However, if you're scratched by even a single of their barbs the venom will enter your bloodstream; you have sixty seconds following the scratch to administer the antidote or you'll drop dead."

"Do we have the antivenom in stock?"

"We do." A new voice answered. "I have already instructed a Healer to be standing by with a case of the antidote, and in addition the Healer will be prepared to inoculate you with the immuno-booster that will protect you should their venom make skin contact."

"Madam Jocasta." Kitch greeted. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Kitch." The Jedi Historian returned the greeting. "Jedi Kavar, good morning to you too."

"And the same to you, Madam Nu." Lor returned. "Apprentice Surik has been instrumental in assisting me with my final preparations to Termina."

"I'm not surprised." Jocasta Nu said with a chuckle. "Aside from myself there is no Jedi alive today who knows these Archives as well as he does. Jedi Kavar, did you say the Council is sending you to recover the ancient texts buried under the Jedi Enclave on Termina?"

"They have, Madam Nu. For reasons I am not at liberty to discuss the Council feels that perhaps it is time we retrieve those texts, given…recent events."

"Indeed. I would, however, feel more comfortable if someone familiar with preserving ancient texts were to accompany you. Kitch, go pack your things."

"Madam?" Both Kith and Lor asked in unison, jumping to their feet.

"I am assigning Apprentice Surik to accompany you to Termina." The librarian explained kindly. "I am too busy here at the Temple to go myself, and Kitch can make sure the data is kept safe and intact until it returns to the Temple."

"Madam Nu, with all due respect," Lor said. "I do not feel Apprentice Surik is the proper Jedi to attach to me for this mission."

"Why not?" Jocasta asked, politely waiting for Lor to explain her reasoning.

"Apprentice Surik, Kitch, I mean no offense, but you're not what I would consider combat effective. I was told this planet would be dangerous, but after the briefing Apprentice Surik just gave me I would say 'dangerous' may be a bit of an understatement. I'll have a hard enough time defending myself without the added worry of protecting an apprentice."

"Madam Jocasta, I feel I have to agree with Master Kavar on this subject. While I am confident in my skills to defend myself and lend appropriate aid to the Jedi Knight on this mission I do not feel I am quite ready to leave to leave this Temple."

"_I_, however, do feel confident that you are ready." Jocasta replied, turning a hard eye to the Jedi Knight. "I spoke with Master Yoda just hours ago, as the Council prepared for its trip to Naboo. He informed me of your mission, Jedi Kavar, which is when I suggested that a second Jedi, more familiar with Archive texts, travel with you. It was then that Master Yoda suggested _Kitch_ to be the one to travel with you."

Lor's eyes went wide as though she had just discovered the solution to a great, ancient puzzle of the cosmos, as though everything in the universe suddenly made perfect sense.

"M-Master Yoda suggested that Apprentice Surik should be the one to accompany me, did he?"

"He did." Jocasta Nu confirmed.

"Well," She growled, her voice suddenly going much harder. "I appreciate the Grand Master's thoughts at making sure I have backup, but I work alone. Just because he thinks I should take a Padawan doesn't make him right, and if I ever _did _take a Learner it would be one who _knows _how to use his lightsaber like a _proper_ Jedi should."

"Yeah," Kitch answered, anger now rising unchecked inside of him, as though her words had suddenly sparked a wildfire too strong to be checked by a decade of Jedi training. "And if I ever became a Padawan I would prefer to be apprenticed to a Jedi Knight who actually respects her masters _and _her pupils, not some wet-behind-the-ears Knight who thinks she knows it all!"

"Kitch," Jocasta began kindly, but Lor interrupted her, taking three menacing steps towards the Apprentice.

"What did you just say?" She asked, her voice going soft and low, her hands inching towards the lightsabers hanging on either side of her waist.

"You heard me, _Jedi _Kavar." He answered, standing to the tips of his toes so that the two were face-to-face. "I said it before and I will say it again; I am proud of the Apprentice I've become. I may not be as great a swordsman as you, but I'm a better Jedi than you'll ever be."

Kitch knew his words were just as false as his actions were wrong, that he'd crossed a line no apprentice should ever even see, but it was too late to take the words back now, and for some reason the anger that he now felt at her insinuations was impossible to check. He'd already gone too far, he knew; might as well do it properly.

He saw Lor's left arm flinch, as though she were about to go for one of her sabers, but before she had the chance, before Kitch could move to defend himself, he felt a powerful, invisible hand push against his chest, sending him staggering away from the Jedi Knight as she too went staggering back in the opposite direction.

"Calm yourselves." Jocasta Nu ordered, her voice no longer that of the caring grandmother-type of voice Kitch had always come to expect but instead of a Jedi Master. "You are Jedi and you _will _act like it."

"I apologize Madam Jocasta, Master Kavar." Kitch said, trying his best to compose himself. "I may not wish to travel with you, Master Kavar, Master Yoda and Madame Jocasta have given their orders, so there's little either of us can do. Which dock shall I report to?"

"Dock 17, fifteen minutes." She ordered, and nodding Kitch turned and walked off, hoping neither Jedi could see the tears now trying to form in his eyes.

The young apprentice didn't know why he felt so raw at the words the Jedi Knight had spoken; after all, they were all words he'd heard before. His fellow apprentices often joked at how dismal his lightsaber skills were, questioning why he'd been put into advanced training classes. He would always be the first in a long line of Jedi to confirm that he was not the first choice to be sent into a dangerous situation where combat was all but ensured.

All through the trip to his quarters and even as he packed a trio of spare tunics and cloaks he couldn't help but wonder why he felt so hurt at the thought that Lor Kavar thought he was a joke-of-a-Jedi.

_'You like her.' _A small voice said in the back of his mind. _'You want to impress her, to have her respect.'_

"That's not true." Kitch muttered as he again left his quarters, this time knowing he wouldn't be back at the end of the day. "I want to have the respect of _all _my fellow Jedi, not just that of Master Kavar."

_'And yet you don't get emotional when others tell you that you'll never be a Jedi Knight, when others tell you they'd never choose you as a Padawan Learner.'_

"So?" Kitch growled, making his way up to the Hanger Levels.

_'You like Lor Kavar and you know it. Admit it now before it causes you more pain.'_

"Okay, so she's a Jedi Knight, so what?" Kitch asked, continuing his trip to the Hangers. "She's a powerful warrior, an effective diplomat, an excellent practitioner of the Force-"

_'Lor Kavar is everything you hope to be.' _He chided himself. _'You respect her for her abilities and talent as a Jedi, and you think she can teach you how to be a better Jedi."_

"She can-"

"Kitch, are you okay?" A woman's voice asked, cutting the young apprentice off from his conversation with himself.

"I'm fine, Madam Jocasta." Kitch answered, quickly wiping his face again to keep anybody from seeing the tears that still remained on his face.

"No you're not." She corrected. "Don't let Jedi Kavar's words get to you, young one. Her words were merely spoken out of anger and indignation, emotions unbecoming for a Jedi Knight."

"That doesn't make her any less wrong, though, Madam Jocasta. And besides, I wasn't exactly the model Jedi apprentice with what I said. Madame, I'm the very last Jedi I would ever want at my back going into such a dangerous situation. Master Kavar has a very valid point too; now she'll have to worry about not only defending herself but defending me as well."

"You told her earlier that the reason you've never used your lightsaber in training is because you've never been pushed to that limit, correct?"

"Yes, Madam Jocasta."

"If one of the Terminus Arachnids caught you both by surprise and poisoned Jedi Kavar, and the only way you could reach her in time to administer the antidote is by using your lightsaber, would you do it?"

"Of course, I would, Madam Jocasta. An apprentice's job is to do whatever it takes to assist and protect the knight he's assigned to."

"It sounds to me like you'll be capable of defending yourself then."

"But even if I am forced to use my lightsaber it won't matter; I've not trained any with it-"

"You have." She countered, embracing the young apprentice as one of the Jedi Healers stabbed him in the base of the neck with the vaccine that would help protect him against the paralyzing effect of the Terminus Arachnid's venom. "Even if you do not yet see it, you've trained more than you realize."

"Thank you, Madam Jocasta, for believing in me; it helps, it really does." Kitch said, suddenly feeling better.

"And thank you for going after these texts; it will bring me some comfort knowing that data will arrive here in good condition." She said, handing him a datapad. "You forgot your datapad; I made sure to download our files on Termina to it so that you'd have something to study on your way there."

"Thank you, Madam Jocasta, I will do my best to care for that data."

"May the Force be with you, Kitch."

"And may it be with you, Madam." Kitch responded, offering the librarian a bow. She returned the bow and then turned, walking calmly out of the hangers. Boarding the only ship currently in Hanger 17, a _Consular-_class Republic Cruiser, he moved himself silently through the ship until he reached one of the empty quarters, which he immediately took for himself, and not bothering to check in with Lor Kavar he uploaded the holovid of his previous practice session with Pax and Master Drallig.

_Pax came at him hard and fast with his lightsaber active, the emerald blade sweeping from left-to-right as he somersaulted through the air. Sluggishly, like a bloated, pregnant Hutt, Kitch backed up, barely avoiding the lightsaber's blade, and he continued to back up in a straight line, not noticing the wall behind him until it was too late._

_ Only by somersaulting over Pax's head was the holographic form of Kitch Surik able to avoid defeat, but when he landed he merely stood there, staring off into space as Pax came charging back, using the Force to augment his speed._

_ Part of Kitch seemed to realize what was going on, for as Pax closed in he stepped to the left, extending his right foot to trip his fellow Padawan, who noticed only too late what was going on. However, where Kitch should have capitalized on his friend's mistake he only stood, again staring off into space as Pax Onasi turned what would have been a potentially devastating accident into a head-over-heels roll, jumping up at the end and bring his saber into a defensive position._

_ Slowly, likely expecting some kind of trap from his friend, Pax Onasi advanced, lightsaber still up defensively in the classic Ataru position._

Watching the combat footage Kitch felt the engines roar to life and the ship lift off, and while he wanted so much to go and see the capital from space he felt too awkward to do so; he didn't need another confrontation with Lord Kavar, not when there was no Jocasta Nu to stop things from getting out of hand.

_Pax finally reached Kitch and, with no trap yet sprung, he thrust his lightsaber forward, intending to burn the outer fringes of Kitch's tunic and thus signal a victory strike. Kitch, however, realized the danger again in the nick of time, jumping back several feet to avoid the thrust of the lightsaber._

_ Now he seemed to come back to himself, and as Pax Onasi somersaulted through the air once more Kitch ran forward, meeting him with a dropkick that sent the Padawan sprawling to the floor on his back._

_ Where most would have pressed their advantage Kitch only stopped, and the cloud of distraction settled over him once more. Pax's handspring brought him upright once more, and summoning his lightsaber to his right hand the Padawan Learner ignited the blade and charged forward, sweeping the blade from right to left, and the distracted apprentice only had just enough time to throw himself to the ground._

_ "HALT!"_

"You were telling the truth." Lor Kavar's voice said, nearly ten minutes after the holovid had begun. "You were so distracted it's not funny."

"Master Kavar." Kitch said in greeting, making sure his emotions were in check.

"Drop the _Master _title." Lor ordered sternly. "I'm no Jedi Master, nor do I deserve to be after the way I treated you back there."

Kitch said nothing as he gazed over at the woman who was now sitting cross-legged on the floor beside him.

"I apologize." She continued. "I didn't mean to upset you or hurt your feelings, Apprentice Surik. I-"

"You don't like someone changing your orders at the last minute." Kitch found himself supplying. "You think that, by assigning me to assist you in the recovery of these Archive texts the Council is implying that you're inferior, not ready for this mission. You also feel the mission would go better and faster if you didn't have to baby-sit an apprentice who's never even left the Temple."

"I'm impressed." Lor Kavar responded, and her words gave Kitch this odd feeling his face was going pink. "You're right, of course. Master Windu told me before that my inability to adapt to mission orders and parameters could be my undoing one day, and he was right. Look, I still wish you would have stayed at the Temple; I don't want you here with me. However, that's not because you're not a good Jedi, because you are. It's strictly who I am; the freedom I've gained over the past few years have made me become accustomed to working on my own."

"I understand, Jedi Kavar, and I do agree that I'm not the Jedi needed for this mission. I do apologize for saying that I'm a better Jedi than you; those words alone proved me wrong."

"The thing is, kid, you are." She corrected. "All that stuff you told me, about your reasoning for not using a lightsaber...that shows wisdom far beyond your age, Apprentice Surik, and they were the words of a true Jedi Knight, not some washout." She smiled. "Master Yoda would say that, while I'm not taking you as my Padawan, it is my duty for the remainder of this mission to teach you. What say you to me helping you perfect your fighting skills and lightsaber-free style?"

"I would be honored, Master Kavar, but don't you have to pilot the ship?"

"We're in hyperspace now, and for the next two days neither of us will have much to do. So, come on, let's go." She said, standing up and offering a hand up for the young apprentice now under her care.

Kitch took her hand and as though he were as light as a leaf caught in a storm she yanked him up, forcing him to plant his feet under him before he went crashing to the deck.

He followed the Jedi Knight in silence towards the back of the of the ship, where they then took a small turbolift to the cargo bay, which was shockingly empty, save for three large stacks of crates, likely supplies and food to last them a week or so away from the Temple.

"Okay, first things first. If you won't defend yourself with a lightsaber, then you'll have to rely on the Force."

"Right." Kitch acknowledged. "It'll help me avoid my opponent's moves."

"Partially. But, you must remember; as the Force can control your movements you can also control the Force."

"I apologize, Master Kavar, but I don't understand."

Lor did not speak but instead closed her eyes and extended her right hand. Just out of his peripheral vision Kitch noticed one of the large crates begin to hover...and then suddenly it was moving towards him, forcing him to fall to the ground and roll out of its way, sending it crashing harmlessly across the cargo bay. And then it made perfect sense, the one big mistake he'd been making for as long as he could remember...

"I've been so caught up in defending myself without a lightsaber that I've forgotten the most basic tenants of the Jedi Code." He breathed, standing back up. "I _am _a Jedi, and while the Force does control me it also obeys my commands. I can use that power to defend myself, as long as I mind the line between defense and attack and follow the Code."

"Very good, yes." Lor said approvingly. She unclipped the hilt from the right side of her waist and activated the weapon, the silver blade sounding unusually loud in the silence of their ship.

"I want you to defend yourself as though your life counted on it, okay Apprentice Surik?"

"I understand, Master Kavar."

"Also, keep in mind that my lightsabers are set to their full setting, unlike the training sabers you apprentices use."

"I will keep that fact in mind, Master Kavar."

"Defend yourself..._now_!"

And before Kitch could even recognize what was going on he was backpedaling, frantically trying to avoid the wall of silver energy that was now assaulting him from the front.

Wrapping the Force around him as though he would do with a cloak Kitch jumped high, somersaulting over the Jedi Knight's head, and as he landed he extended his left arm, summoning the closest crate with all of his might, but it did not budge. He tried again, but suddenly Lor Kavar was on top of him, her blade swinging this way and that, everywhere at once, forcing him backwards once more.

"You're not focusing, Apprentice Surik." She snapped, still pressing him backwards.

"I'm trying to focus, Master Kavar!" Kitch barked as he jumped back, narrowly avoiding a silver uppercut. "But it's kinda difficult to focus when I'm so close to death every two seconds!"

"No!" She barked, not relenting. "Do or do not, there is no try!" And, if it was even possible, Lor Kavar stepped up her attack.

As Kitch jumped back yet again he decided to try something different, something he hoped would work. He imagined his left arm to be a tube through which the Force ran, and imagining that the Force was a massive river constricted to that tube he then imagined it rocketing forward, and to his surprise his imagination became real. Lor Kavar's attack froze as she was thrown backwards through the air, slamming into the bulkhead opposite him.

He rushed forward, afraid he might have overdone it, but he immediately regretted it. Lor charged forward, re-igniting her lightsaber, and again a wall of silver plasma came charging towards him, forcing him back yet again.

Kitch closed his eyes, relying on the Force to guide his actions. He imagined the Force to now be thousands of small tentacles reaching out from his body, ready to do his bidding. His eyes still closed he imagined those tentacles wrapping up one of the storage containers tightly in its control, and then he imagined those tentacles throwing that crate into the Jedi Knight, sending her crashing into a nearby bulkhead...the sound of that crash three seconds later told him he'd succeeded.

"MASTER KAVAR!" Kitch shouted upon opening his eyes to see the woman crumple to the deck, lifeless, her lightsaber shutting off and rolling away, harmless. He rushed forward, fearing the worse as he collected her discarded weapon, trying to figure out how to explain to the Council he'd injured one of their newest Jedi Knights.

"Come on Master Kavar, please be okay." He begged, kneeling down beside her. As he did so, however, her hazel eyes snapped open, and too late he realized the trap had been sprung.

Her legs kicked up, catching him between them, and with an amount of strength Kitch would have thought impossible for a woman of her size and stature she had thrown him against the bulkhead, his back exploding as he crumpled to the ground, and as he rolled over onto his back she was sailing through the air, suddenly crouching down over his abdomen, a second silver blade inches from his throat; he did not breath for fear of death.

"Never let your guard down when approaching an enemy you've yet to disarm." She breathed, and as Kitch laid there, fearful of what might soon happen, she suddenly smiled and deactivated her lightsaber, falling back onto her butt as she too gasped for air.

"Here." Kitch breathed, barely able to speak as he offered her second lightsaber to her.

"That was excellent work kid, you catch on quick. You need more practice though. If you're to ever become a Jedi Knight you'll need to become so good at those moves that you can do it in your sleep."

She forced herself back onto her feet as Kitch followed suit. "Come on," She said, smiling. "Let's do it again."

"Yes, Master Kavar, let's do that again."

"And stop calling me _'Master'_! I'm not a Jedi Master."

"My apologies, Master Kavar."

* * *

**Okay, there you have it...the end of Chapter Two. So, what'd ya'll think? Is Kitch going to become Lor Kavar's Padawan, or is this just a one-time trip? What's in store for them? Where will this mission take them, both as a team and in the physical world?**

**And, before anyone says anything, I know anger and emotional explosions like that aren't the way of the Jedi, but I figured Kitch is an apprentice as unique and out there as any have been in history, and Lor is a newly-Knighted Jedi whose emotions aren't the best-kept things, so put them together and...well...there's a reason I added our favorite archives mistress to the scene.**

**So, let me know what you guys think and the next chapter should be up really soon.**


	3. The Hydian Way

**Well, to be perfectly honest, I'm kinda disappointed this story's not gotten more reviews, but, as long as there's at least one person who wants it, I'll continue updating it. So, without further ado, here's Chapter Three. And no, _Star Wars _belongs to Disney now, not me. Now, on with the story.**

* * *

**ADDITIONAL STORIES BY **Guardian Kitch**:**

_**Teen Titans: The Approaching Storm (Teen Titans/Star Wars)**_

_**Star Wars: Jedi Wasteland (Star Wars/Star Wars: The Clone Wars)**_

_**Gates to Terabithia (Bridge to Terabithia)**_

_**Sins of the Father (Harry Potter)**_

_**Harry Potter and the Labyrinth of Evil (Harry Potter)**_

_**Pokémon: Crisis Point (Pokémon)**_

* * *

_**Chapter Three: The Hydian Way**_

{**Location: **Republic Cruiser _Antares, _Hydia, Inner Rim}

The beautiful planet of Hydia was well on its way to being the identical twin of Coruscant. After centuries of continued galactic importance, brought on by the fact that this single planet was the spot where the Perlemian Trade Route, Metellos Trade Route, and the Hydian Way all converged, the multiple cities that had once dotted the planet's surface had long since converged into a single, massive city that now covered ninety-eight percent of the planetary surface...the Northern Ocean, surrounded by a few kilometers of rugged, unspoiled terrain, remained as the planet's only natural landmark, save Mount Hydia, the highest natural peak to ever be recorded on the planet. This terrain, however, was shrinking by an eighth of a kilometer every year...it was predicted that, at this continued rate, the Northern Ocean itself would fully disappear in only half a century, and the wealthy Hydians did not appear to be moving to remedy this situation.

These were the facts Padawan Learner Pax Onasi repeated to his master as Jedi Knight Jax Talia maneuvered their _Consular-_class Cruiser through the congested air-ways of the planet's upper atmosphere, having had to wait nearly half a planetary rotation in orbit before being cleared to come this far.

"Very good, Padawan." The tall, muscular Knight commended in his deep drawl. "What was yer friend able ta find us on their government?"

"According to the information Kitch gathered, their government is ruled by a true monarchy; the Wasoni family has controlled Hydia for twenty-three full millennia, approximately two millennia following the planet's enrollment into the Galactic Republic, making it only the second planet to join, following the capital planet of the Republic itself."

"Their society?" Jax Talia asked, the ship at his controls slowly making its descent through the planet's atmosphere.

"The populace is overwhelmingly human; the human population makes up 99.973 percent of the population. Only the wealthiest of the wealthy are allowed to reside on this planet and nonhumans are frowned down upon. The citizens of Hydia view currency as their sole reason for living, much like the Neimodians and the Hutts. Akin to the rulers of the Trade Federation guild, the Hydians are savvy business-folk. However, Master, if this data is correct then the Hydians take a very unfavorable view to outside interference, and...oh dear."

"Padawan?"

"The data my friend collected for my use on this assignment suggests the Hydian royal family may possibly be involved in a booming slave trade."

"That would be next ta impossible ta prove." The Jedi Knight said, stroking the thin, sharp black beard and mustache that matched his medium-length black hair. His brown eyes stared ahead as he allowed the autopilot to finish their route to the royal landing pad. "The Republic takes a very harsh stance against slavery, an' the Hydians know this, meanin' _if _the Royal Family is indeed involved in marketin' slaves they'll have covered their tracks well."

"I concur, Master." Pax answered. "Of course, I feel obliged to remind my master that breaking a slave-trade circuit here is not our primary mission."

"Yeh make a good point, Pax." Jax allowed. "Our primary mission is findin' the kidnapped Senior Princess an' returning her ta her family, safe an' sound. However," He added lightly. "_If _we was ta stumble across evidence suggestin' the Royal Family was actively aidin' the slave trade, it would cost the Hydian Government greatly."

"Pax understands perfectly, Master Talia." Pax acknowledged. "You are suggesting Passive Reconnaissance. We shall not go actively looking for evidence of wrong doings by the Royal Family but we will still keep our senses sharp for any possible evidence of wrongdoing by the Royal Family."

"Very good, Padawan; it's not even been a week an' yer already learnin' from me." Jax praised his apprentice.

"I thank you, Master Talia, for your praise. I do believe we may have an advantage over the Royal Family."

"An advantage, eh?" Jax asked curiously.

"Indeed. According to my own limited research on the matter, the Hydians believe themselves to be the most important planet to the Galactic Republic, more so than even the galactic capital; this, I believe, will lead them to being arrogant, which will cause them to make a mistake, on which we will be capable of capitalizing."

"I agree, Padawan."

"Of course," Pax added. "The notion than any one planet is more important than the capital is preposterous."

"Again we find ourselves in total agreement."

_"Republic Cruiser _Antares, _this is Royal Air Traffic Control. State your business for visiting Hydia."_

"Royal Air Traffic Control, this is Jedi Knight Jax Talia. I've been ordered by the Royal Family ta come an' assist 'em in their hunt fer the missin' Princess."

_"Stand-by, _Antares, _while we confirm this with the Royal Family."_

"Copy that." Jax answered, turning to face his Padawan. However, no sooner had he opened his mouth to speak than the voice had returned.

_"His Highness has instructed that you be allowed to land at Royal Landing Pad Echo Six. You will follow the directions being uploaded to your ship to the letter or you will be shot down without question."_

"Copy that." Jax answered again, turning to face his apprentice.

"Master," Pax confirmed. "We are now being tracked by three dozen Anti-Air Defense Towers; all have acquired an affirmative lock on our vessel."

"Pax, kid, when yer right yer right; most members of the Republic wouldn't even consider threatenin' two Jedi."

"Need I activate our deflector screens?" Pax asked calmly.

"Nah, better not give 'em any reason fer thinkin' we have ulterior motives." Jax answered. "We'll follow along with their charades for now. Just remember, Pax, keep yer senses open for anything that will help us with this assignment."

"I shall remember to do so, Master Talia. I shall also remember to keep my 'Passive Scanners' online and scanning."

"Good boy." Jax said, again taking the helm.

The two Jedi followed the instructions given to them, crossing what felt like half the planet before the Royal Palace came into view, and when it did...

"Wow." Pax breathed, unable to fully comprehend the size of the palace. It rose high into the sky, far higher than even the Jedi Temple back on Coruscant...the topmost point of the palace looked to be at least twice as high as the Jedi Temple's Council Chambers...

"Blasted nobles." Jax growled. "A galactic hunger problem that has taken over hundreds o' worlds, not just across the Republic but the galaxy itself, an' the Royal Family's main goal is to build themselves such a palace...it makes me sick."

"I agree, Master Talia." Pax answered. "But in the defense of the current King and Queen of Hydia this palace was likely built thousands of years ago; it is likely older than Master Yoda himself."

"And the same holds true fer the hunger crisis that stalks our galaxy." Jax countered as he brought the ship down on the small landing platform atop the mountain that stood stunted in the shadows of the Royal Palace.

"Think they're tryin' ta remind us who's boss by placing themselves atop even nature, the Force, itself?" Jax asked, noting the distance from the Royal Palace as well as their elevation in relation to that Palace.

"I would believe so, Master. As I have previously stated, the Hydians believe themselves to be superior to all other planets and races. And to imagine that this is Mount Hydia, the highest recorded natural peak to ever exist on this planet."

"Which makes them foolish." Jax answered. "However, it doesn't mean that the innocent o' this planet should have ta suffer."

"I concur, Master. However, I sense...something."

"Somethin'?"

"Something feels amiss, Master. I would most prefer waiting until we have been briefed by the Royal Family, however, before I make any sort of conclusions."

"Already thinkin' like a Jedi Knight, kid." Jax laughed, placing a comforting hand on Pax's shoulder as he stood up. "Come, I see a beautiful speeder comin' for us, so let's not keep 'em waitin'."

"Following in your footsteps, Master Talia." Pax answered, vacating his own seat and following his new master to the boarding ramp, where the beautiful, fully-furnished speeder was coming to a stop. From behind the young Padawan came the sound of a droid rolling down the ramps, and stopping Pax turned to regard the R4 astromech droid.

"Greetings friend." Pax said. "What might your designation be?"

A series of beeps and whistles. Pax looked down, carefully reading the letters and numbers that had scrolled across screen.

"R4-K12, huh?" Pax asked, bowing. "Greetings, R4-K12, I am Pax Onasi, Padawan Learner to Jedi Knight Jax Talia of the Jedi Order."

As the droid beeped its own greeting Pax turned back to regard the beautiful, eloquent speeder as a regally-dressed servant jumped out of the pilot's seat, rushing to open the back door and give a salute as a man stepped out, a gold, towering crown sitting on his head as it sparkled beautifully atop his head. The man had tanned skin and sported a growing, flowing white beard and mustache that matched his short white hair.

"King Wasoni, yer highness." Jax said, offering the man a bow, Pax following in kind. "I am Jedi Knight Jax Talia, an' this is my apprentice, Pax Onasi."

"Master Jedi." The man greeted, giving a tilt of his head. "I am pleased the Senate replied to our summons for assistance so quickly. Allow me to introduce my wife, Queen Gabriella Wasoni." He finished lightly slid out of the side of the shuttle.

The queen wore a much shorter crown, though it was just as eloquent and golden as that of her husband's. She looked to be slightly younger than the king too, her silver hair falling in loose cascades down to her knees.

"Yer highness." Jax greeted, offering another bow. "My Padawan and I offer our sympathies for the abduction of yer daughter, an' yeh have our words we'll find her an' return her home."

"Your speed is most appreciated, Master Jedi." The woman answered sweetly. "As is your, ah, _discretion_."

"Yeh have our word, Yer Highnesses." Jax answered, turning to raise an eyebrow, an act only Pax could see. "If yeh have no objections, we would first like ta see the spot from which the Senior Princess was taken."

"Her private chambers." The king answered. "We shall take you there immediately." He said, and as he did so a second door opened up, revealing the transport to be much larger than it looked. The pilot of the speeder beckoned the two Jedi in, and following his master Pax made to enter the speeder, only to stop suddenly.

"Padawan?" Jax asked, turning to regard his new student.

"My apologies, Master, but what about our R4?"

"Oh yes, I 'd nearly forgotten. Yer Highnesses," Jax said, turning to face the monarchs now sitting across from him. "Do yeh have room from our astromech droid?"

"Of course." The king answered. "PILOT!" The man barked. "See to the droid!"

"Aye, my liege." The pilot answered, rushing to comply with his orders. Now satisfied that the droid was good to go Pax joined his master inside of the royal speeder.

"What can yeh tell me 'bout yer daughter, Yer Highnesses?" Jax asked as the doors sealed themselves.

"She's a bright young girl, especially for her age." The queen answered. "She aces all of her lessons."

"How old is she, my lady?" Pax asked.

"Only thirteen." The king replied. "We still can't understand why she's been kidnapped. She has no bank accounts in her name, no tactical data, no information of true importance-"

"We adults often overlook the importance of the children around us." Jax corrected. "I would wager a guess that yer daughter has been kidnapped not fer tactical data or money but as a means ta get back at yeh. Tell me, do yeh have any known enemies?"

"The Vryn." The king answered the question even before Jax had fully asked it. "Kidnapping the future queen of Hydia is exactly what they would do to get back at us."

"Get back at yeh fer what?" Jax asked, looking from husband to wife and back again. "What would their motives fer revenge be?"

"Volcam One is our closest neighbor." The king explained. "Just off the Perlemian Trade Route. However, because it's so close to Hydia and off of the main trade routes the planet has suffered an economic downfall during the past three hundred years. Because of our generosity Hydia has lent the Vryn billions of credits to assist in stabilizing their faltering economy, and we have been very lenient in the repayment of their debt to us.

"Ten years ago, however, the Vryn launched an attack on our envoy to their capital following our request that they begin repayment of those loans as per the treaty we had drawn up with them long ago. After the attack they demanded we continued giving them credits for free or face a full military engagement, and so we withdrew full support of their people. Their Emperor then vowed he would get back at us if it were the last thing he ever did."

"What kind of military forces do the Vryn possess?" Pax asked as the speeder continued on its way.

"They have a large fleet, which always surrounds their planet; I am confident the fleet violates Republic laws."

"And what is the status of yer fleet?" Jax asked.

"Our fleet meets the maximum number and power as allowed by the laws of our Republic."

"I see." Jax said. "So it is your belief that the Vryn have kidnapped your daughter as a way to get back at you."

"Never, in twenty-three thousand years, has Hydia been forced to hand the crown to its Junior Prince or Princess." The king answered. "For that to change now would destabilize and demoralize our planet and her glorious citizens. The Senior Princess of Hydia _must _be found, Master Jedi, at _all _costs."

"I understand, Yer Highnesses, an' yeh have my word that she will be returned safe an' sound." Jax stated.

"Her name?"

"Excuse me?" The queen asked, looking over at the Padawan.

"Your daughter, surely she must have a name." Pax explained softly.

"Melody." The woman answered, still staring at the kid. "Melody Wasoni."

Pax nodded and returned to gazing out the tinted window of the speeder. Something felt off, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't place his finger on it. There was more going on here on Hydia than met his eyes, that much a youngling could tell. However, this Labyrinth of Lies ran deep, and he knew he'd only been give one of the likely thousands of pieces to this puzzle.

What bothered him the most, however, was how quickly Melody Wasoni's patriarch had been in pointing his finger at his people's galactic neighbors...an answer that had seemed almost rehearsed. But that logic only raised more inquiries than it answered. If the answer to his mentor's inquiry had been rehearsed then that meant the ruling patriarch of Hydia was hiding something from the Jedi, and if so then _what _was he hiding, and why? And that didn't mention the anger in his voice when speaking of how the crown had always gone to the Senior Prince or Princess.

The queen was also giving off a few red flags of her own. While this was Pax's first excursion beyond the shadows of the Jedi Temple he would have never expected a woman whose daughter was currently missing to be so calm and collected, and yet here was the queen of Hydia, sounding as though it were just another day on the throne for her. In addition, not once had she or the king made eye contact with either Jedi, and she was twiddling her fingers, a classic sigh of nervousness taught to all Jedi apprentices while studying at the temple.

"King Wasoni, Queen Wasoni, I apologize if this comes across to you as frank, but is the primary reason for your concern for your daughter because she's your only child?"

"Are you implying that we do not love our daughter?" The queen snapped, and judging by her reaction Pax knew he had his answer.

"I apologize, Your Highnesses, but I would never imply that, nor do I think it. I am merely curious; after all, it is understandable, given your position. If this child is your sole heir then it would be disastrous for your bloodline if something were to happen to her."

"She is not our only child." The queen admitted. "However, our second child, Brinkley, was born in a vegetative state five years ago. Even if we wished him to rule he'll never be capable of doing so; his title of Junior Prince is only a show."

"I understand, and I again humbly apologize if I was out-of-line, Your Highnesses." Pax explained. "However, you must understand that we need all possible information if we are to uncover this mystery and return your daughter home safe and sound."

"Yer Highnesses," Jax took over. "If the Princess was killed, with yer only remainin' child unfit fer duty, what would happen ta the monarchy?"

"The crown would dissolve." The king answered. "You must understand the significance of this, Master Jedi: this very crown has been worn by every king and queen to ever rule our glorious planet. The larger of the two always resides on the crown of the bloodline's true heir, be it a male or female. If our bloodline were to end and no successor be there to take the crown then the planet would be forced to hold elections, changing the very climate of not just this planet but the entire Republic, nay, the entire galaxy."

"With all due respect, King Wasoni," Pax said. "But would that be such a bad thing? I mean, the government, in my view, should always belong to the people themselves, not just one person, or even two people, and their bloodline."

"I do not expect a child to understand such mature matters." The king spat. "But look at the shape the capital is in. Even now the Republic is beginning to crumble; corruption plagues the very halls of the Galactic Senate. Meanwhile, here on Hydia, our planet has become better than ever. My bloodline has ruled this planet since the birth-era of the Republic and will continue to do so. Under our style of rule this planet has become the most powerful, most important, planet in the galaxy. We do not rule with an evil fist, young one, nor do we allow our rightful power to rule us; we merely do what is best for our planet."

"Again, I speak with all the respect due to you, King Wasoni, but your planet is so important to the galaxy primarily because of its location, an event not the result of any act or acts carried out by your noble bloodline. It is so powerful merely out of chance. The people should always rule themselves as they see fit; to me this is the perfect description of a democracy."

"Our people," The queen interrupted. "Have representatives who bring their problems or desires to us, and using that information we rule accordingly."

"Indeed?" Pax asked politely. "Are you bound by the wishes of your subjects?"

"We are _bound_ by no one." The king answered.

"I see." Pax replied. "And these representatives you speak of; do you appoint them or do the people get to vote?"

"We appoint them, of course." The queen answered.

"And there, Your Highnesses, is the recipe for disaster." Pax responded again. "The government, no matter how large or miniscule, must always answer to the people; again this is the perfect definition of a democracy. For example, the Galactic Republic is led by the Supreme Chancellor, who serves as the head of the Galactic Senate."

"And yet only the Senators are allowed to vote on the Supreme Chancellor." The King countered.

"And those Senators are elected by the constituents of their own planets, and under normal circumstances the Senators must first take polls on their own worlds to see the direction their people are leaning to before casting their votes, a rule that is only suspended in emergency elections, such as our most recent election of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine." Pax sighed. "This reign by your bloodline will not last forever, King and Queen Wasoni. It may end now; we may find that your daughter has been the victim of homicide, or injured so grievously that she can never recover-"

"Is that a threat, young Jedi?" King Wasoni roared.

"Jedi do not use threats or terror." Pax retorted smoothly. "It has never been our way and it will never be our way. I merely speak the truth, Your Highnesses. I give you my word on an oath of death that all will be done by both myself and my mentor to return your daughter alive and intact to you. However, I beseech you to remind yourselves that not even Jedi are all-powerful. As I stated before; your bloodline's days of unequaled reign _is _numbered, be it in days, centuries, or even millennia."

"Padawan Onasi." Jax intervened at last. "Yeh will mind yer tone an' attitude, young one. Regardless of yer beliefs, this _is _the king and queen of Hydia yer talkin' ta, an' yeh _will_ know yer place."

"Of course, Master Talia." Pax said, inclining his head towards his master. "Your Highnesses, I beg your forgiveness if I overstepped my bounds."

"That is alright, young Jedi." The Queen responded kindly. "You are, after all, an Outsider, and only a child; you still have much to learn. And while you may have gone too far we are honored you respect us enough to be honest about your opinions."

"Thank you for your kindness, my lady." Pax answered, returning the gesture. "The fact that there is much I've yet to be educated on is one on which I feel we may all concur."

"When we reach yer daughter's private chambers we will begin our preliminary investigation." Jax said as the speeder finally began to slow down. "Provided the facts an' forensics my apprentice and I gather warrant it, one of us will visit the Vryn, see if we can determine whether or not she is bein' held hostage. I would also very much like any o' yer contacts with Hydia's underworld element that yeh can provide-"

"Hydia _has _no underworld, Jedi-"

"With all due respect, King Wasoni, _every _planet has an underworld, whether it is apparent or not. Truly a leader as wise an' noble as yerself would know this."

"We may have a couple of leads that could assist you, Master Jedi." The queen answered.

That was something else, Pax reminded himself. At best the king was merely tolerating the Jedi sent to assist them, odd for a man who's only daughter had been abducted. Each time he came close to losing his temper (and likely letting slip information they didn't want the Jedi to know) his wife made the save, immediately smoothing things over.

The door hissed open only moments after the landspeeder stopped, and as the Jedi and monarchs stepped out the pilot passed them, likely making to unload R4-K12.

"You have a beautiful home, Your Highnesses." Pax complimented, truly appreciating the grandeur and beauty of the Hydian Royal Palace now that he was standing at its base.

"It truly is marvelous." The king replied. "My ancestors built this palace twenty thousand years ago. It is the grandest building in the entire galaxy."

A broad, sparkling golden pathway led to the ground entrance of the palace, while soldiers, wearing similar golden armor and carrying identical golden blaster rifles, stood rigidly at attention with their weapons shouldered, so still that they mimicked statues.

"These are the royal guards; the most elite fighting force in the galaxy." The king continued, leading his wife, the two Jedi, and their R4 unit up the pathway. "They carry state-of-art blaster rifles, weapons which have unheard-of stopping power. These men and women are trained in every galactic fighting style known and they know not the meaning of words like 'surrender' and 'failure'."

"Impressive." Jax allowed. "Perhaps after yer daughter has been recovered safely I'll be able ta spar with one or two of yer royal guards."

The king laughed. "My guards are always up to a challenge, Jedi, whenever you're ready."

"I shall make a note o' that. However, finding yer daughter is my first concern."

"Sierra!" The king roared as they entered the massive lobby immediately beyond the palace doors. Almost immediately a door off to the right opened, spilling out a young woman, no older than Pax himself, sporting a body-tight suit that covered her entire body, save her head.

"My liege?" The woman asked as she approached, and as she got closer Pax received his biggest shock yet on this mission. The woman's face was battered, almost fully covered in bruises. Both of her eyes were significantly swollen, as black as the Maw Cluster itself...she had been beaten, badly, by someone, and judging by the shape of her face and the colorations of some of the bruises, only just visible, this beating had ended not so long ago in the past.

"This is Sierra, Chief Handmaiden to the Senior Princess." The king explained. "She will be your escort while you are within the palace. She is very disciplined, speaking only if spoken to and answering any question to the best of her knowledge. She is among our finest subjects and servants."

"Handmaiden Sierra," Pax blurted out, unable to stop himself. "What occurred to you face?"

"My face, Master Jedi?"

"Please, I am no Jedi Master, only a humble Padawan, and yes, your face; your facial epidermis suggests you've been beaten, harshly, and recently."

"I-I was with the Senior Princess w-when she was abducted." The woman stammered, and even without the Force Pax could immediately tell she was lying, shooting multiple, frantic looks at the monarchs. "I-I w-was attacked b-by those t-thugs."

"A traumatic experience I am sure." Jax intervened, shooting his apprentice a warning look that only Pax could see. "However, a material witness will be instrumental in solving the mystery of who abducted the Princess and why."

"Sierra," The king said, calmly, the kindness in his voice sounding overwhelmingly fake. "I am ordering you to escort the Jedi to any part of the palace they need to travel; they have full clearance. You are to answer any questions they may have in full and honestly, am I clear?"

"You are, sire."

"Master Jedi, my apologies, but even with my daughter missing I do have a planet to run, including a meeting with my Ministers in just a few short minutes. I trust to receive regular updates on your status, yes?"

"Of course, yer highnesses." Jax answered, giving the monarchs another respective bow, one Pax was slow in mocking.

"Madam Sierra," Pax said as the monarchs walked off, leaving the Jedi to conduct their investigation. "We most kindly request you to take us to the Senior Princess's private chambers."

"Of course, Master Jedi." She answered, ignoring Pax's previous statement that he was no Jedi Master. "If you'll please follow me."

The two Jedi, led by the Chief Handmaiden and trailed by the R4 unit, walked in unison up a grand flight of golden stairs with silver banisters, reaching a set of one dozen turbolifts at the top. each lift's door sporting a different number.

"If you'll please enter lift number twelve." The woman said softly, the mentioned turbolift's door opening as she spoke.

Once the three humans and single droid were inside, the door hissed shut and immediately the lift was on the move, not stopping until they reached the topmost floor to which the lift was capable of taking them.

The corridor was long and broad, adorned in hundreds of beautiful, colorful banners and tapestries. A silky, crimson carpet covered the corridor's floor, leading them past dozens of small doors until finally they reached the end of the corridor, now standing in front of a massive, silver door.

"These are Senior Princess Melody Wasoni's private chambers." Sierra said, moving to activate the doors. However, with her right hand less than an inch from the panel, she stopped.

"Madam?" Pax asked kindly. "Is anything wrong, aside from the Senior Princess's absence, that is?"

"It's just-"

"Yeh can tell us, my dear." Jax encouraged kindly. "We are Jedi, after all; anything you say will be confidential, and, if need be, we _will _protect you."

"No outsider has ever stepped foot across this threshold." The woman said slowly. "It is considered sacred ground. I beg you, Master Jedi, both of you, please show only the utmost respect. not just to my lady's privacy but to the room as well."

"You have our words, my lady." Pax responded kindly, and with a nod of her head the woman activated the side panel, causing the silver door to immediately slid up with a near-silent _hiss_, admitting the quartet.

The room was, simply put, _massive_. Covered in a silky, violet floor, silver walls, and a gold, domed ceiling, no expense had been spared in the Senior Princess's private chambers. However, whereas it had definitely once been lavish, rich, and beautiful it was now a total mess; clearly whoever had kidnapped the Senior Princess had not believed subtlety was warranted.

On the far side of the room was what had once been a massive, beautiful glass window, though now it was just a husk of its former self, the glass shattered in every direction.

"Okay, my young apprentice, let us get started on figurin' this mess out." Jax ordered "Quiet yer mind, clearin' it of any assumptions. Take in only the facts ya see before yeh an' listen ta what those facts have ta say."

As Jax retrieved a blood scanner from inside of his robes Pax began to walk around the room, closely examining the crime scene laid out before him. On the surface, the princess's private chambers looked as though someone had been looking for something, aside from their kidnapped victim, of course.

Pax barely listened as his master began to question their witness, asking her to recount what had happened from the beginning. That however, was currently the furthest thing from the Padawan's mind.

"Madame Sierra," Pax asked slowly, interrupting the line of questions his master was currently asking. "Did you notice anything missing from this room, aside, of course, the princess?"

"Nothing else is missing."

"I see." Pax said. If what the handmaiden was telling him was true then it was unlikely the kidnappers were looking for anything, which meant the state of this room was the direct result of a fight...but the mess was just too _neat _to have been made by any kind of fight. Everything was thrown around, yes, but there were no scuff marks on the pristine floors, which Pax believed would have been fundamental had the princess been kidnapped, even more so if she'd resisted her abduction.

"R4," Pax said softly, almost so soft he wasn't speaking. "Begin taking fingerprint analysis samples."

The droid beeped its confirmation, leaving Pax free to meander his way over to the computer terminal that sat, undisturbed, next to the still-intact four-poster hoverbed. Pax turned to look at his master, willing the older Jedi to keep the handmaiden busy so that she could not see what Pax was about to do...and almost immediately the Knight turned the woman so that her back was to the Padawan.

Wasting no time, Pax retrieved a spare datapad from his robes and inserted it into the terminal, working blindingly fast to bypass the firewalls and other, more advanced security measures in place to protect the data on the Royal Family's networks...inside of five minutes, without alerting anyone to what he had done, Pax Onasi was walking away from the terminal as he stuffed the datapad into his robes once more...he smiled at the thought of what Kitch would say had he been there with them, knowing his friend so well that he could clearly hear the other apprentice claiming that they had yet to make a security feature that Pax Onasi could not override.

Forcing himself to focus fully on the investigation, remembering too well how Kitch's distraction had cost him in their previous encounter, Pax next made his way over to the shattered window, closely observing where the shards had landed...and here he noticed another red flag.

"Madam Sierra," Pax interrupted once more. "Is this where the intruders made their entrance?"

"It is, Master Jedi."

Now Pax had _proof _that these people were hiding something. Of the large expanse of glass that had been shattered, only one percent (if that) littered the floor of the room. Stepping up to the edge of the window Pax peered over the walls of the palace, only to discover that they were near the very top of the building. Still, even at such a height, thanks in part to his Jedi abilities, he could make out shards of glass littering the ground below him.

Another thing he noticed, making it harder for him to believe the story the two Jedi were being given, was the dozens of laser cannons mounted on the side of the palace. Off in the distance, on the side of the mountain facing them, a small rock began to hover into the air, guided by Pax's control of the Force.

Concentrating on this rock with all of his might the young Jedi brought it closer to the palace. Closer and closer it came, hovering under the apprentice's strained control, until finally...

Alarms began to wail as the cannons began tracking the rock, which Pax was now moving in different directions...and then the laser cannons opened fire, dozens of blaster bolts slamming into the rock as Pax released it from his grip in the Force.

Only seconds later the door opened once more as an entire squad of guards stormed the room, their rifles raised.

"What's going on in here?" The lead golden-clad guard asked, his rifle scanning the room.

"My most sincere apologies." Pax quickly explained. "In trying to determine who took the Senior Princess I wanted to view a demonstration of this palace wall's security defenses...I confess myself most impressed."

As the head guard, muttering something derogatory about power-hungry Jedi, led his men out of the room, Jax was finishing his round of questioning.

"Thank yeh indeed, my lady." The Knight said. "My Padawan an' I shall retire ta our ship fer the night, an' perhaps come mornin' we'll be a step closer ta solvin' this mystery."

"Of course, Master Jedi." The woman answered. "Our pilot is on standby to return you to your ship."

As Pax followed his Master out of the room he couldn't help but wonder how much of what they thought they now knew about this case was fact and just how much was fiction...one thing was for sure; nothing was as it appeared to be on this planet.

* * *

{**Location: **_Destiny's Way, _high orbit above Mytus VII, Corporate Sector}

Her eyes had seen much during her thirty-five years of life. She had seen tyrants kill innocent children in a mad effort to keep the power they had accumulated during their reigns. She had seen children blowing themselves up in the name of one religion or another as they blindly carried out the holy wars of their elders. She had seen the poor and meek starve on city streets while, next door, the wealthy wasted food like it was a natural assurance. She had been through the depths of the Dark Side of the Force, only to bounce back stronger than ever.

Sadly, that fall to the Dark Side had been the beginning of the chain reactions that had ended her career with the Jedi Order. Even now, eleven years after following her separation from the Order, she could remember those tragic events as though they'd just occurred yesterday.

She and fellow Jedi Knight Waylon Sebastian had been assigned to intervene in a coming genocide, a dictator who had vowed to end all life on his planet before he was forced to relinquish power. She and Waylon had been friends since their days as younglings, and through the years, even as they had become Padawans and come closer to full Knighthood, their relationship had only become stronger. By the time they had become Jedi Knights the two had admitted their feelings to one another, and in celebration of their Knighthood the pair had married in secret, deciding as a unit that the Jedi Code's stance on relations was flawed and that it had been the Will of the Force that had brought them together.

Even at the onset of that final mission, the information they had been given concerning the situation they would be facing had been extremely sketchy. The Council had informed the two Jedi Knights that they should be prepared for extreme resistance even before they landed...and that information had been correct.

It had turned out, as the two Jedi had learned immediately following their emergence from hyperspace around the small planet, that the warlord had purchased a full dozen squadrons of droid starfighters from the Trade Federation, and after finally fighting their way to the planet's surface they had also discovered the warlord had purchased five legions of battle droids and destroyer droids from the Federation as well.

It had taken the two almost a week to make their way to the warlord's private compound, where a majority of his forces had been compiled, and then almost another week just to fight their way to the warlord's command bunker. Once there, as the pair of Jedi had realized how close they had come to ending this particularly dangerous situation, they had surged forward, cutting a swath of destruction straight to the warlord himself, who had then tried to bribe the two Jedi into letting him go. Of course, that had not worked, adding only another charge to his file as they'd arrested him and several of his lieutenants and prepared to transport him back to the capital...

And then the sniper had fired, his first shot landing directly in the square of her husband's back...so caught up in stopping the ruthless tyrant, neither Jedi had ever sensed it. A second shot had lashed out then, but, now on alert, she had brought her weapon up, the blue blade intercepting the deadly shot, and then a third shot, and a fourth shot, but again and again she had blocked the attack...

And then she had snapped. She had watched her lover, her husband, fall, not in battle but as the victim of a dastardly assassination. She had then called on the Force in a way Jedi had long ago been forbidden to do...she had sent forth the powers of Force Lightning, ignoring the sniper's screams of agony, ignoring him as he cried for the pain to stop. With the lightning still ripping through him she had then utilized the Force to levitate him towards her, dropping him to her feet even as the lightning continued tearing at him.

"Beg me." She had demanded, though the voice she had heard had sounded completely alien. "I want you to beg me for mercy," She had ordered, the cold chill of the Dark Side now running up her back and spine. "I want to hear you beg me for your life."

"P-please Ma-master J-Jedi, I b-beg you." He cried. "D-don't k-ki-kill me."

"Hmmm." She had pretended to mull it over as she relented on the Force Lightning. "I don't feel too merciful."

And then in one sweep of sapphire his head had rolled free of his shoulders and his body had dropped lifelessly to the duracreet floor.

She then turned, facing the warlord and the lieutenants that had been present for his defeat by the Jedi team.

One by one she had executed those advisors, laughing manically as she did so, until finally only the warlord was left. The man had then knelt to his knee, not out of respect but out of fear.

"I pledge myself to you, my master."

"I have no servants." She had then spat, and bringing her lightsaber down in a vertical movement she had cleaved him in half, ending his reign of terror as she'd begun her own.

She had then felt suddenly empty. Her husband was dead, her mission over, and her mind now twisted, perverted. However, it would not remain like this for long.

A diminutive, 800-year old green Jedi Master had entered the room at that moment, his powerful light batting back her budding darkness. She had never expected this; the two Knights had battled almost half a month just to get here, and yet it seemed to have been no problem for the Grand Master.

"Saddened this day, I am." Yoda had said grimly. "See now, you do, why forbidden, attachment is."

"What would you know about love?" She had challenged, glaring down at the most powerful being in the galaxy. "Huh? What in this or any other realm would you know about love, you old frog?"

"For 800 years have I lived." Yoda said calmly. "Know more than you, I do, about life, about death, about the Force, and about love. Hmmm. Much left to learn, you still have, young one."

"I beg to differ." She had growled, and lowering both her hands she shot forth more of the Force-generated blue lightning. However, Yoda only stood there calmly, not moving, as the lightning moved in an upwards arc, shooting back above her and into the wall behind her.

"Much to learn, you still have, young Jedi." The Grand Master repeated, still not moving.

"I am no longer a Jedi Knight." She had said then, knowing her career as a guardian of peace and justice was over, even as a single tear had fallen down her cheek.

"On you now, a grasp the Dark Side has. Hmmm. Fallen far, young one, have you. However, claimed you fully, the Dark Side has not. Not too far gone, are you."

"HOW WOULD YOU _KRIFFIN' _KNOW?!" She had roared, unable to comprehend that the ancient master still held out hope for her. "YOU'VE BEEN A JEDI FOR THE BETTER PART OF A MILLENNIA! YOU'VE NEVER FALTERED, NEVER FALLEN! HOW WOULD YOU KNOW _ANYTHING _ABOUT THE DARK SIDE?!"

"Know much about the Dark Side, I do." Yoda had revealed. "In 800 years, think I've never been tempted, do you? Given this job, I was not. Grand Master of the Jedi Order by default, I am not. Hmmm. Earned it I have."

He had then moved forward, ignoring the sapphire blade even as it passed within an inch of his face.

"Powerful is the Force, wondrous in its depths. To take a life, an ability of every being it is. To give life, much more difficult is it. The power of the Jedi, _this _is." He had then knelt down beside his fallen Jedi Knight, closely examining Waylon's body.

"A natural part of life, is death, a natural part of the Force." Yoda had continued on, calmly, as though he might have been giving a lecture at the Temple. "Mourn those who have passed on, we do not, miss them we do not. Prevent death can no being. Hmmm. Not you, not Jedi Sebastian, not even Yoda. Strong in the Force are we, but never that strong."

"I've fallen too far, Master Yoda." She had told him then, only to rebuked once more.

"Never too far gone, are we. Goodness and light, still found in the dark they can be, when only remember to turn on the light, one does."

"I can still come back?" She had asked incredulously, motioning to what she had done, the bodies that littered the ground around them. "Even after all of this?"

"Hideous, this crime is." Yoda confirmed. "Something no Jedi should think of, you have done. Yet again, claimed you fully, the Dark Side has not. Redeemed, you can be." Then Yoda had waved a three-fingered hand over Waylon's fallen body. "With us is the Force. Still alive, Jedi Sebastian is. Hurry, we must young one, if to preserve is life we are."

"He's still alive?" She had asked, immediately shutting off her lightsaber. "I thought-"

"Thinking, you were not." Yoda rebuked. "Ruled your actions did you emotions, and paid for that mistake, you have. Live in the past, a Jedi does not. Be mindful of the future, you should. Hurry, we must."

It had been a close call, she reflected. As he'd later explained, Yoda had had a premonition of her fall only days before, and deciding to head off this threat at its source he had taken a small ship to retrieve his Jedi, having arrived just in time.

For the next month she had been confined to the Temple to reflect on her actions while her husband had been confined to the medical ward, spending the full month in a bacta tank.

After he had healed the Council had finally rendered their decision. Both Jedi had been expelled from the Order, and in addition the Council had declared that they would take custody of the child now growing in her uterus...a month later, childless, with only a few thousand credits given to them by the Order to help them transfer to civilian life outside of the Order, the husband/wife duo had begun their journey through life.

Seven years ago the two had collected on a massive bounty offered by a private governor on a planet in the Outer Rim, and shortly after had stumbled upon a massive ship graveyard, tomb to half a dozen ancient warships, ships that, if she was right, dated back to the Jedi Civil War era.

The pair had spent their new fortune to repair, modernize, and rearm the small fleet, which they had deemed the Knight Fleet, and then, embracing their new destiny, the couple had used the remaining fortune to crew the ships and then had begun a private war against tyranny and evil across the Outer Rim and beyond, where the Galactic Republic had little to no power.

"You know what Yoda always said about living in the past." A man's voice said from behind her, bringing Arianna Surik out of her retreat down Memory Lane.

"Live in the past, a Jedi does not." Arianna quoted, laughing. "I guess it's a good thing I'm no longer a Jedi."

"In title, perhaps, but not in spirit, right?" Waylon asked jokingly, causing Arianna's hand to subconsciously fall to the hilt of the lightsaber she had constructed only weeks following her separation from the Jedi.

"Do you think we made the right choice?" She asked, turning to look back out of the forward viewport of the ship's bridge, staring at the planet below.

"The right choice?" He asked, confused.

"Kitch." She answered. "Do you think we made the right choice in leaving him to be trained by the Jedi?"

"I like to think we did." He confirmed. "He's my first child, my only son, my flesh and blood, yes, but when I think about it he's become something more."

"Something more?" Now it was her turn to be confused.

"You fell to the Dark Side the day I nearly died." He said with a chuckle. "We both broke the Jedi Code by marrying and conceiving him. To me he's our apology to the galaxy. I believe that, through our son, we have both been redeemed."

Arianna laughed as her husband pulled her into an embrace. "That's why I love you so much."

"What?" He asked, pretending to be shocked as he released her. "I always thought you loved me because of my roguishly good looks."

"Dream on." She laughed. "Okay," She conceded a second later. "Maybe a _little."_

"Commodores." A man's voice said, causing them both to spin around; the crew was on shore leave...the bridge was supposed to be empty.

Arianna released her grip on the hilt of her lightsaber as she realized nothing major was amiss.

"Ensign Neema." She acknowledged the Twi'lek crew member. "Is there any particular reason you're not at your post?"

"Sorry, ma'am," He answered quickly. "I was merely sent to inform you that your clients have arrived."

"They're early." She said with a sighed. "Well Waylon, let's get this over with." She said. "Ensign, you may return to your post now."

"Aye ma'am." The Twi'lek answered, turning and walking off of the bridge.

"Come on, my roguishly handsome husband, let's go meet our new clients." She said, and leading her husband off of the bridge she forced herself to think like her husband. They had given their first child up to the Order as punishment for breaking the Code, but perhaps rather than being punished they had been redeemed, and maybe, just maybe, the masters of the Jedi Council had seen this too.

She smiled, looking forward to a new mission as she recalled the information on their newest clients...finding a kidnapped child should be nothing for the Knight Fleet, even though it seemed rather mundane for the resources the fleet had at its command.

* * *

**Okay, there's Chapter Three! So, what'd ya'll think? Feel free to let me know...just click the Review button down below after you type in your feedback and let me know how you liked it, or how much you hated it...either works fine for me.**

**I know Kitch and Lor weren't in this chapter, but both character sets introduced here will have just as important a role in this story as our favorite Knight and Librarian team. Trust me, it all ties in perfectly by the end of this story.**

**Also, if you're interested in any of my original works of fiction, feel free to visit my own personal website, the link to which can be found on my profile for this site. So, until next time...**


	4. Destiny's Way

**Okay, I must confess that, despite the traffic data, I am slightly disappointed this story's not receiving more reviews. Come on people, leave me some feedback, let me know what ya'll think, or else I'm going to end up deciding it's not popular enough to warrant continuation and I'll just leave it as it is or else delete it. So come on, let me know what ya'll think.**

**And, as usual, _Star Wars _belongs to Disney, not me. Okay, on with the show...**

* * *

**ADDITIONAL STORIES BY **Guardian Kitch**:**

_**Star Wars: Jedi Wasteland (Star Wars/Star Wars: The Clone Wars)**_

_**Teen Titans: The Approaching Storm (Teen Titans/Star Wars)**_

_**Gates of Terabithia (Bridge to Terabithia)**_

_**Bridge to Terabithia II: Return of the Queen (Bridge to Terabithia)**_

_**Sins of the Father (Harry Potter)**_

_**Harry Potter and the Labyrinth of Evil (Harry Potter)**_

* * *

_**Chapter Four: Destiny's Way**_

{**Location: **Republic Cruiser _Antares, _Outer Royal Landing Pad, Hydia, Inner Core}

"So, Pax, based on the evidence we've gathered so far, what would yeh think is goin' on here?" Jax asked his Padawan as the two sat at a large conference table in the galley of their cruiser. Pax, in turn, took a sip of jawa juice as he considered his master's question.

"Well," He began a minute later, sounding as though he were choosing his words carefully. "I believe there is more going on here than meets the eye. The monarchs claim their female offspring was taken against her will by mercenaries likely working on the payroll of the neighboring Vryn. However, our preliminary investigation seems to dispute this a great deal. My primary reason for this conclusion is that the evidence fails to match up, at all."

"Such as?" Jax asked, encouraging his Learner even more.

"There are several pieces of evidence that fail to match the story we are being given, Master." Pax found himself explaining. "First, the Senior Princess's private chamber was allegedly found in the state it was broadcast to us upon our arrival. However, I feel that this crime scene was staged to merely give us the impression that it was violated.

"Keep goin'."

"The second piece of questionable evidence is the entry point of the attack. I have discovered an overwhelmingly large amount of the glass shattered from her chambers was outside on the ground, not in the room itself, which suggests the glass was blown outwards, not shot in during an invasion. In addition, master, the defensive weapons located on the walls outside of the Senior Princess's chambers were still functioning at one hundred percent.

"I had R4-K12 run a fingerprint analysis on the princess's private chambers, and the only sets of prints found matched those of the handmaiden, queen, king, and Senior Princess herself, though in all fairness the kidnappers were likely wearing gloves.

"And then the Senior Princess's handmaiden only adds to this theory. She has been beaten in a most severe manner, and one does not need the Force to sense her fear. The facts she provided you about the abduction do not match up with the facts we have seemed to uncover." Pax sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "I am only a Padawan, Master Talia, with much to learn. However, I believe we know only one fact for sure right now; the Senior Princess _is _missing."

"Ya are very wise, my young Padawan." Jax consoled. "And extremely intelligent. I believe ya are correct, on all counts. However, this brings us only slightly closer in recoverin' the missing princess. And, ta add ter yer list o' worryin' pieces of disputable evidence, there has yet been no ransom made, very odd indeed fer a kidnapping o' this magnitude."

"I await your decision, Master, on where we should proceed to next."

"First, what were ya able ta download from Princess Wasoni's private terminal?"

"Various lessons and schedules for the coming weeks. It would appear that all of her private data has been deleted with no chance of recovery."

"Deleted?" Jax asked, raising an eyebrow at his apprentice. "That's odd; why would kidnappers want ta delete her personal information before they took her?"

"Perhaps, Master Talia, it was not the invaders who deleted the data but the Senior Princess."

"Any suggestions on _why _she saw fit ta delete this data?"

"Perhaps she was forewarned of the pending attack and wished to protect herself and her family from allowing this data to be discovered." Pax mused thoughtfully.

"It's possible." Jax allowed. "But, that still don't tell us how she knew of the coming attack, not ter mention most children her age would never think that far ahead upon discoverin' there was about ta be a kidnappin' plot taken up against them. So, there was no useful data from her private terminal?"

"I did not say that, Master. I was able to procure a complete set of schematics for the palace and the surrounding area."

"Indeed?" Jax asked thoughtfully...and then a sudden realization dawned on the Jedi Knight. "Padawan, I believe we have the answer."

"Master?"

"The king an' queen have been lyin' ta us. Their daughter is not missing. They have merely put her inta hidin' an' are blamin' her alleged kidnappin' on the Vryn so as ta have a reason fer war."

"Master, are you affirmative about that conclusion?" Pax asked, eyeing his mentor. "I mean you no disrespect by questioning you, but that's a bold step. If the Senate found out-"  
"Ya said it yerself, Pax." Jax said, the puzzle somehow clicking into place. "The Hydians view themselves as better than any other planet in the Republic. With that kind o' mentality it would be within reason ta think that they'd view themselves as able ter bully their way out o' this should the Senate discover this plot."

The Padawan, in turn, used the holoprojector built into their table to pull up the schematics of the Royal Palace.

"Right here." The Padawan said quickly, finding the spot he'd marked in his mind earlier as he'd first studied the image. "There appears to be a tunnel that goes deep underground, the entrance to which is directly below the Senior Princess's bed." He explained. "If my studies are accurate then this would come out kilometers away, in part of the Orange Moon District."

"Hmm." Jax thought carefully. "I'm thinkin' that perhaps the tunnel was built centuries ago as an escape route, back before the Orange Moon District became the planet's center o' despair an' poverty.

"This, I believe, suggests that there was inside help in gettin' the Princess out _if_ she was kidnapped. This provides us with a second theory, Padawan."

"I foresee where your conclusion is taking you, Master. You believe that, provided the kidnapping is real, then the kidnappers used the tunnel as their escape vector, which leads to only one possible conclusion; they had assistance, from _inside _the Royal Court of Hydia."

"Which means there is a traitor amongst the rulers of this planet." Jax said, stroking his beard. "Regardless o' which theory is true, someone clearly wants Hydia and Volcam One to declare war with one another, a war Hydia would likely win due ta its vast resources an' its sizable fleet."

"Then we must prevent this war from being declared, Master." Pax said, jumping to his feet. "We must root out this traitor while we still have the upper hand-"

"Patience, Padawan, calm yerself." Jax interrupted, standing up too. "Our orders are only ta find the Princess; nothin' more, nothin' less."

"Master Talia, I respect our mandate as given to us by the Jedi High Council, but the situation is much more dire than-"

"I understand Pax, an' I agree, but we must be patient. We cannot interfere with the government's operations unless asked ta do so by the government, which must first make the request of the Council."

"I understand, Master." Pax said, ceding the battle. This was one of the only things he disliked about the way the Jedi Order did things. They could only act if ordered to do so by the twelve members of the Jedi High Council, which in turn would only issue an order if requested to do so by the Galactic Senate of the Republic, which, in the end, truly knew nothing about the needs of the common people who made up their beautiful Republic.

"I understand how yeh feel, Padawan." Jax comforted, picking up on his pupil's thoughts. "Red tape does hinder us a great deal. However, we must follow the law an' the Jedi Code, lest we become somethin' less than Jedi."

"I stand corrected, Master." Pax again surrendered. "I am awaiting your decision on how best we should proceed."

"We have two likely theories," Jax said. "An' luckily enough, we happen to have two Jedi."

"Master?"

"I will stay here an' work the angle of my first theory, the one 'bout the king and queen havin' hid their daughter away just ta start a war. Meanwhile, I want yeh to follow the hidden tunnel from the Princess's room to the Orange Moon District an' see if you can find any possible leads of the Princess there. There are always witnesses, Padawan, whether they know it or not."

"You think it wise, master, for us to split up, especially given this is my first mission outside of the Jedi Temple?"

"I have faith in yeh, Pax. Do ya remember the comm code I made ya memorize after we left the capital?"

"I do."

"It's an encrypted Jedi frequency. We shall use that channel ta remain in touch until yeh return."

"Of course, Master."

"I trust yeh, Padawan." Jax continued, placing a hand on his ward's shoulder once more. "I have watched ya as yeh progressed through your training, even before I became a Knight myself. I know yeh will do what yeh must ta get the job done, an' I know ye'll follow the Code."

"Thank you for your praise, Master."

"I am giving ya free reign to proceed as ya see fit, Padawan, but I'd appreciate to be kept in the loop."

"Of course, Master."

"Come on then, let's get movin'." Jax said, leading his Padawan towards the exit ramp once more.

Pax could not believe that, so early in on in his first mission, he was being given complete reign and freedom over his own actions during an assignment; it was something, he knew, most Padawans did not achieve until much later on in their training...he couldn't help but wonder what made Jax trust him so much.

"What is it?" One of the four guards standing outside of the palace entrance asked several minutes later as the two Jedi disembarked from the speeder.

"My Padawan an' I wish ta see the scene o' the crime once more."

"Very well. Wait here while your guide is summoned."

"Of course." Jax answered as the head guard depressed a small button on the gauntlet over his right wrist. For the next minute no one spoke as Pax and his master remained where they stood, the guards still unmoving and at attention.

The door opened finally, and again they were met by the Senior Princess's handmaiden, her bruises now covered up with fancy makeup.

"Follow me, please, Master Jedi." She bade them, and following behind the woman the two Jedi again entered the Royal Palace.

The trip up to the Senior Princess's chambers was a silent one, and as they stood in the lift Pax couldn't help but wonder which of his master's theories was correct.

Could this all be one great hoax orchestrated by the monarchs of Hydia, as a way to attack their close neighbors? Pax would certainly never put it past the monarchs; despite their outward politeness towards the Jedi Team Pax knew they considered themselves to be above the law, and with a majority of the credits in the Inner Core backing them, they were just as dangerous as they were rich.

However, Pax had also sensed genuine concern coming from the female monarch of Hydia, though it was far weaker than Pax would have thought normal from a mother who had just lost her daughter.

He wanted so bad to scream at that moment; the facts contradicted themselves _and _the mission as a whole...the truth was like finding a Jawa in a herd of Banthas.

_"When trying to solve a mystery, you are, start, you must, with what for sure you know."_

Pax couldn't remember the number of times he'd heard the Jedi Grand Master (and countless other teachers) say that particular line.

'_Yes, Master Yoda.' _Pax told himself silently, focusing on the facts he knew for sure.

**Fact #1:** The Senior Princess of Hydia is missing.

**Fact #2:** The handmaiden and monarchs know more than they're admitting.

**Fact #3:** The crime scene was staged.

**Fact #4:** The Hydians view themselves as above the law.

**Fact #5:** The disappearance of the heir to the crown of Hydia would destabilize not only the planet but perhaps the entire Republic as well.

**Fact #6:** There is a hidden tunnel within the princess's private chambers.

**Fact #7:** This tunnel leads to one of the darkest parts of the capital.

Pax considered the facts one more time as he played them over in his head again. The tunnel meant that whoever knew about it could access the princess's private chambers without ever having to bother security.

Suddenly the Padawan was beginning to come to see just how possible his Master's second theory could be. If an enemy to the crown, Vryn or otherwise, were to decide it was time to throw everything into utter turmoil and that same party was able to succeed in planting a secret agent inside the Royal Court, then that party would have access to top-secret intelligence, including the schematics Pax himself had hacked into. Kidnap the Princess, stage a forced entry, and no one would ever be the wiser.

Pax suddenly smiled; whoever had kidnapped Senior Princess Melody Wasoni had not expected Jedi involvement, which meant Pax and his master already had the upper hand.

Jax requested that the handmaiden remain outside in an effort to preserve what was left of the crime scene, and expectedly she did as asked, offering no resistance.

"According ta the data ya obtained earlier, the entrance ta the secret tunnel would be...there, right under her bed."

Using his command of the Force Jax Talia moved the bed aside, allowing Pax to use his own budding skills with the Force to locate the hidden trap door.

"Right here, Master." Pax said, effortlessly opening the door.

"Down yeh go, then, Pax. May the Force be with yeh, kid."

"May it be with you too, Master."

And taking his cue Pax began climbing down the old ladder, silent as his master closed the door above him, and a moment later the young Padawan could hear the sound of the bed being lowered back onto the bed; there was no turning back now, even if he wanted to.

Almost a full two minutes later Pax at last reached the bottom of the long shaft, and as he dismounted the ladder and began looking around only one fact entered his mind; he couldn't even see his own hands in front of him.

"Not a problem." The apprentice muttered, unclipping the lightsaber from his belt. With a press of the activation stud the emerald blade snapped to life, bathing his immediate surroundings in a green light.

He felt a shiver run down his spine and back as he studied the cold stone walls of the emergency tunnel; the Hydians hadn't been thinking of comfort when they built it, that was definitely a fact.

"What happened to you, Senior Princess?" Pax asked himself as he continued along his way, following the narrow tunnel along its path.

Some Jedi, Pax knew, could allow the Force to flow through them with such power that they could actually feel emotions and thoughts from those who had passed a certain spot before them, but Pax had never had such a close affinity with the Living Force; his area of expertise was piloting and communications.

He stopped, holding his lightsaber high in his left hand, and closing his eyes Pax opened himself up to the Force, allowing it to flow like a river through him as he placed his right hand on the side of the wall to his left.

Coldness. The stone was so cold that the young Jedi immediately withdrew his hand, rubbing it against the side of his cloak as quickly as possible to return some of the warmth to it.

Again he placed his right hand on the wall, but this time he allowed the Force to move through his arm and into the hand, fighting back the coldness of the stone...and this time he could sense something. It wasn't all that strong, and he had to focus like never before to keep up with it, but he could sense anxiety, fear and sadness. However, mixed in with those emotions Pax also sensed...hope? Pax sighed as he dropped his hand and continued along his way; he needed far more training before he became proficient at that kind of power.

A sudden flash of something silver, however, caused him to stop in his tracks. As he lowered his blade he knelt down and retrieved a silver container, studying it carefully in the emerald glow of his lightsaber.

It was nothing fancy, just a standard rations contain that had been discarded very recently, Pax observed as he turned the item over in his free hand. On the bottom, however, Pax discovered the seal of the Royal Family-Melody Wasoni had definitely been here, the Padawan knew as he stowed the container into his tunic, and this knowledge caused him to move again, this time at a much faster pace.

"Pax Onasi hailing Master Talia." Pax said, now speaking into his comlink. The only response he got, though, was the sound of static coming through the other end; he was far too deep underground for his communications gear to work.

"Remind myself to remedy this issue once I return to the _Antares_." Pax told himself, and clipping his comlink back to his utility belt the apprentice moved forward into the dark, ready to handle whatever the Force threw at him on his own.

* * *

{**Location: **Republic Cruiser _Challenger_, en route to Termina, beyond the Outer Rim}

Kitch Surik could not see. His eyes stung, his tunic was sticking to every conceivable part of his body, his hair was now matted to his head, and he was leaking a flood of sweat from parts of his body that he never even knew existed. His arms were so sore he could not move them, and his legs felt as though the bones and muscle had been replaced by a stiff, jelly-like material...and that wasn't even the worst of it; Lor Kavar's twin blades were now pushing the blind-folded apprentice back, refusing to allow him a chance to regroup and catch his breath.

The Knight had set the ship's climate control settings to a much higher setting, making it as warm as a furnace throughout most of the ship. A Jedi Knight, she told him, could successfully do combat in any setting, and that, if he made it to be a Knight, he would discover that not all fights would be in a comfortable, structured environment.

"Come on." Lor ordered, still not letting up on her attacks. "The Force _is _with you, now use it."

"I-I c-can't do it, M-Mas-Master Kavar." He gasped, trying to plead with the Jedi Knight to cease with the training session for even a moment.

"No!" Lor barked, and suddenly her flurries came in even faster and harder, forcing the young Jedi to move back even faster. "You are a Jedi, and a Jedi can always access the Force and do things many consider to be impossible. The fact that you've yet to take a mark from either of my blades is proof of that!"

"B-but I c-can't e-even r-raise m-m-my hands; how-"

"Focus not on what you can't do but what you _can _do!" Lor ordered. "You don't have to move your arms to use the Force!"

Kitch wanted so much to just turn and walk off, but he knew that even if he did reach the point where he would no longer go on, Lor Kavar would not allow that to happen; she had already made that _perfectly_ clear.

Still moving around the _Challenger's_large cargo hold and dodging the two bars of plasma, Kitch began to gather the Force around him, again using it like a cloak. This time, however, he allowed it to not just cover him and flow through him but also allowed his body to begin soaking it in, like a sponge in the water...and immediately his fatigue began to lessen and disappear. His arms were movable once more, his legs were as sturdy as the largest tree on Kashyyyk...and his senses were sharper than he could ever remember them being in the past.

With this new surge of energy and stamina Kitch stopped moving backwards and instead used the Force to propel him over Lor's head, and as he landed he again snatched one of the crates up in the tentacles of his Force powers and hurled it towards the Jedi Knight, who, as he had predicted, sidestepped it.

However, even as he was releasing this crate from his grip in the Force he was picking up a second crate through the Force and hurled it towards the Knight, this time coming in from the back...

Too late Lor realized that the original attack was merely a diversion, and as she jumped to avoid the second crate the projectile slammed into her legs, sending her crashing to the ground; the impact of the landing forced her hands to release her lightsabers, the blades shutting off as the hilts rolled away.

As the Knight picked herself up Kitch suddenly charged forward, his left fist reaching out to catch his fellow Jedi in her chin. In response, Lor dodged the blow, stepping to the side as his fist met open air, and, not giving him a chance to recover his balance, she brought her knee up, driving it into his abdomen and then sending him crashing to the ground.

He still could not see Mace Windu's former Padawan, for the drenched blindfold remained ever tight around his eyes, but he could sense her clearly now, and he knew she was summoning her weapons back to her.

The Padawan jumped up as he sent a blast of Force energy towards the Knight, pushing her back just enough to send her lightsabers careening past her. He suddenly allowed a smile to form on his face, his first in hours: he could sense the Jedi's frustration, a sign she had not expected him to utilize the Force in such ways.

Suddenly a large, invisible hand was grabbing Kitch and tossing him through the air, like a hawbat's feather caught in one of the massive storms of Bespin, sending the young Padawan careening towards the closest bulkhead.

However, Kitch had fully soaked in the Force now, allowing it to dictate his every move. As though it were as easy as breathing, he felt himself turn until he was parallel with the deck, and the moment his feet connected with the bulkhead his body was absorbing the blow, distributing it equally throughout his body, and as his knees bent he was suddenly using the Force to propel him forward once more, now moving at an incredible speed; Lor Kavar only had enough time to look up before the young apprentice was connecting with her chest and forcing her to the floor.

As Kitch landed on the deck he brought his leg up high and then dropped it with all the power he could muster, driving his heel into her chest. The agony of his attack resonated through the Force as her presence screamed out in pain, but after her many years of physical combat training he knew that would not be near enough to pick up the victory over the Jedi Knight.

Kitch sat up, preparing himself to return to his feet and continue his sudden flurry of offense, but suddenly he felt a surge of warning through the Force, and, not knowing why, he pushed himself back to the ground, narrowly avoiding, he soon discovered, Lor's own leg, which she had brought up and over him, trying to stem the flow of his Force-fueled attacks.

He jumped back up, suddenly aware that, while he was suddenly improving his performance, Lor had one advantage he did not; she was not restricted by a blindfold. True, he had the Force, but so did Lor Kavar. He knew that the main reason apprentices were often forced to train with their sight hindered was because one's eyes could often lie to them, leading a Jedi to make a fatal mistake. However, Kitch also knew that sometimes, more often than some Jedi would admit, your eyes could make the difference between the life and death. And so, knowing that Lor had strictly forbade him from removing the blindfold, he reached up and yanked the black material free of his face.

"I could swear I remember telling you not to remove that."

"You did." Kitch admitted. "However, with all due respect, Master Kavar, you wanted me to treat this fight as though it was a life-or-death struggle with a Sith Lord, as I envisioned on Naboo; a fight against a Dark Lord of the Sith has one rule; survive without turning to the Dark Side, so to the Maw with the blindfold."

Of all of the reactions Kitch expected the Jedi Knight to have, she smiled, as though filled with pride and joy by his actions.

"And _now _you're learning." She said, and then she charged forward, launching a flurry of strikes with both of her hands. However, instead of falling back Kitch dodged the attacks, spinning around Lor. Now behind the grown Jedi, Kitch grabbed her right wrist and wrenched her hand into a tight wristlock, one that surprised the apprentice; he'd been trying to learn the maneuver for what seemed like forever, but he'd never expected to be capable of pulling it off with such success, especially considering he'd never pulled it off successfully at all.

"Do you yield, Master Kavar?"

Lor laughed. "Arrogance is unbecoming of a Jedi, young one." She answered, and suddenly his hold was broken and Lor was in the air, landing behind him. Before he could move to compensate for this sudden change of position, Lor was shoving him forward with power augmented by the Force.

Kitch, however, was now compensating for this attack. As he reached the wall, he allowed his momentum to continue carrying him, running up the wall and flipping over, reaching into the Force to carry his arc further than normal, and as he landed, he brought his right foot up, thinking to catch Lor in her chest with another of his powerful kicks, but this time she proved ready for him.

With both of her hands she latched onto his ankle and flipped him high over her head, and painfully he crashed into the deck. He jumped back up quickly, though, watching as the Jedi Knight dropped into a defensive stance, waiting for him to make his attack.

Kitch stood there, thinking on what he should do next. He could see he had pushed the woman further than she had expected, for her hair was now out of its loose ponytail, frayed as it fell down her back. Her breasts heaved up and down as she fought to caught her breath, and her tunic was also beginning to stick to her in certain places along her body...

And then it was gone. As quickly as the Force had soaked into his body it was flooding out, and now he suddenly felt completely drained. His arms were as heavy as a ton of duracreet, and his body was as wet as it would be in one of the oceans of Mon Calamari, and his legs could no longer support his weight...the young apprentice dropped to the floor.

Five seconds later Lor was crouched over his chest, sitting lightly on his abdomen as she dug her crossed blades into the deck, the silver blades trapping him in a deadly 'X'.

"Do _you _yield, Apprentice Surik?"

Kitch shook his head. Five minutes ago he would have immediately yielded, ready to end this bout and gain some rest. However, he now felt more determined than ever to improve his fighting skills in an effort to compensate for his refusal to use a lightsaber, and he also felt, though he'd never admit it, that he'd lose some of the grudging respect he'd earned from Lor Kavar.

Lor's eyes went wide; she'd obviously seen how drained he had become, and she obviously knew that he'd been pushed to his limit; she had very clearly not expected him to refuse her offer to surrender.

And suddenly the young apprentice saw his opportunity open, and taking a deep breath he surged forward, grabbing the hilts of Lor's lightsabers in his own hands and shutting them off.

This brazen move only served to surprise the Jedi Knight even more, and before she could react Kitch had forced the strength back into his legs and kicked Lor Kavar off of his abdomen.

Lor jumped up, and while Kitch had surprised her for a moment he knew she was still in far better shape than he was, and as he gasped for air she recollected her blades and was moving forward.

Kitch gathered the Force around him once more, and as Lor moved to bring both blades down onto his shoulders, a light touch there being needed to signal his defeat, he caught the blades in the tentacles of the Force, and in his mind the two blades bent back impossibly far, slightly burning both of her shoulders.

However, this tactic only worked halfway. Her right blade did as he expected, bending back far enough to barely burn her right shoulder. However, her left blade continued down on its original course, and at the precise moment Lor was suffering a burn on her right shoulder Kitch was suffering the same fate on his left shoulder.

The two blades hissed away immediately as both Lor and Kitch fell to the floor, the former completely and utterly surprised by the sudden improvement in Kitch's powers and the latter just glad that the bout was over.

"They were wrong." Kitch said several minutes later, still soaking in the gulps of air without having to worry about an attack. Lor just looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"My fellow apprentices like to talk about who pushes us the hardest." He explained. "Some say Master Yoda, some say Master Windu, even more say Master Drallig, and most say Master Xan. But, then again, most of them never had to train with you, Master Kavar."

Lor laughed. "Iron Hand and I were Padawans together, though she reached Knighthood well before me. She's the one who taught me most of my hand-to-hand combat."

"She's been trying to train me to pull that wristlock off for ages." Kitch continued. "Yet I felt like I'd mastered it decades ago."  
"You never stopped to think if you could do it or not." Lor explained, moving closer to him. "You just _did_. That's what I've been trying to tell you, Apprentice Surik; when you just _do _something, without stopping to think if you can or not, you'll often find you can surprise yourself, like you surprised _me_ today."

Now sitting directly in front of him she pull down part of his inner tunic, allowing her a full view of his shoulder burn.

"Nothing major." She said approvingly. "Rub some bacta on it and it'll be completely gone by tomorrow."

"Your blades are set to a higher setting, though, right, Master Kavar? So why-"

"I lowered their power setting last night so that neither of us would lose a limb if things went wrong. I'll have to change that before we land on Termina."

"I've never had such success in combat." Kitch continued. "Thank you, Master Kavar, I truly mean that. We've only just left the Temple and I feel like I've made a year's worth of progress."

"You've done good, I'll give you that." Lor allowed. "But remember, don't get caught up in your success. Take it, accept it, learn from it, and move on. Don't allow that success to cloud your mind and hinder your learning."

"Yes, Master Kavar."

"And stop calling me _'Master'_!" Lor ordered, but Kitch only smiled.

"Can I ask you a question?" Kitch asked slowly, deciding he was ready to talk about something he'd been thinking of since his vision the night before.

"You can." Lor answered, lying down on the cool deck to rest.

"Is there anything that's impossible with the Force?" He asked, now waiting for her answer.

"There's something you should know." She answered. "I've only recently become a Jedi Knight; there is still a great deal about the Force that I don't know."

"But you know far more than I do." Kitch countered. "And I'm sure training under Master Windu has given you some unique knowledge of the Force."

"We Jedi say that we can achieve many things through the Force." Lor said slowly, weighing her words. "However, there are things we can't do with that power. We cannot be immortal, for example, nor can we raise the dead." She regarded him. "Can I ask why you're so curious?"

Kitch shrugged his shoulders, not fully aware of the answer himself. He still felt guilty about watching a Jedi Master being struck down and not doing anything to stop it, even though he knew there was nothing he could've done to stop the Zabrak Sith from delivering that fatal blow. Lor, apparently, picked up on this train of thought.

"Kitch," She said kindly, one of the very rare times she used his first name. "You're not even a Padawan yet. The vision might have been real, but you were light-years away; there was nothing you could have done to save Master Jinn, and were he alive he'd be the first to tell you so."

"Part of me knows that, Master Kavar." Kitch argued. "But another part of me won't accept it. That part of me feels that I could have, _should have_, used the Force to push him out of the way or force the Zabrak Sith back...anything to give him a chance to recover-"

"Kitch, I want you to listen to me, and listen to me carefully. Jedi do not lay blame on one another, not even on themselves. You are an eleven-year old boy, not a Jedi Master. Do you understand?"

Kitch nodded his head.

"Jedi accept death, whenever it comes calling. We defend ourselves with all we have, but when the time comes, and it will one day come for us all, where our life dies out, we accept that. For Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn that time was last night at the hands of a Sith Lord. He accepted that, and so did his Padawan. You, my young apprentice, must do the same. You must accept that it was time for him to become one with the Force, and you must also accept that nothing you could have done would have saved him."

"Yes, Master Kavar."

"The day may very well come when you have gained such a knowledge and affinity with the Force that you can do something like that, using the Force to alter a vision of the present; after the amount of progress you've made in just these few hours it honestly wouldn't surprise me for you to one day be that strong with the Force. If that day comes then you will be an exceptionally gifted Jedi. However, if that day does _not _come you'll still be an exceptionally gifted Jedi. After all, you've already taught me a great deal in just this short amount of time."

Kitch snorted. "Like what?"

She laughed as she pulled him to her and placed a gentle kiss on the top of his wet head, an act completely out of the blue for her. "Like teaching me not to judge a book by its cover. Now, go and use the 'fresher. You've had enough training for today."

She jumped up and offered him a hand up, which he immediately took. As she walked off, likely to normalize the ship's climate, Kitch made his way to his quarters, where he had a fresh tunic waiting with his name on it. He knew that the Jedi Knight had been right with all that she said, but for Kitch Surik that was not enough; he made a solemn vow to himself almost five minutes later as he stood naked under the sani-steam: he did not care what it took or how long it took; nothing would stop him from mastering the Force to the degree needed so that he could influence and alter his visions of the future; he would never again watch a Jedi being cut down, by a Sith or any other enemy, and not do nothing about it.

As the temperature aboard the _Challenger _began to drop as the onboard climate began to stabilize, Lor Kavar made her way towards the ship's Communication Relay.

The newly knighted Jedi could still feel sweat rolling over all reaches of her skin, but that was okay; she had earned it. She had pushed an apprentice to his limits and then beyond, and through her he had excelled, gaining newfound power and knowledge.

She could not help but be impressed by the young boy. He had done a great job fighting her, and while he had disobeyed her direct orders in removing the blindfold his reasoning had been true enough and had been the exact same retort Lor had often given her own Master, Mace Windu, for disobeying some of his orders during their training sessions.

Lor shook her head as she sat down in front of the holoprojector. She had not _wanted _to be impressed by the kid. She had wanted to show him how a true Jedi acted, get done with this mission, and get back to the Temple so she could lose him for good. However, the Force had obviously wanted something different.

_ "If I stare just right I can see the smoke comin' from yer ears." _A deep male voice said with amusement, bringing the young Jedi out of her thoughts. She blinked rapidly as she stared at the holographic image before her; she didn't remember contacting her fellow Knight.

"Sorry Jax." She apologized with a laugh. "I was...caught up in my thoughts."

_"I could never have guessed." _He laughed. _"I see yer on the_ Challenger_. How long 'til yeh reach Termina?"_

"At least two more days." She replied. "How are you and your new Padawan doing on Hydia?"

_"Lil' Pax continues ta amaze me." _Jax confessed._ "He's got a sharp mind, an' he's strong in the Force. Some rough edges, too, but I reckon I can fix those. As for the mission, though, it's a bloody puzzle."_

"Tell me about it."

_"The Hydian rulers claim that their daughter was kidnapped, likely by the neighborin' Vryn, but the evidence don't match that theory. Either they're hiding her an' usin' it as an excuse to wage war on their neighbors or the kidnappers had inside help."_

"Well, if anyone can get to the bottom of it, my money's on you." Lor admitted, and then she sighed. "Wish we could trade missions."

_"I'll keep the mission that keeps me awake, thanks." _Jax laughed. _"Why do ya seem ta be sweating so much, anyways?" _He asked, as though just noticing her physical state.

"Do I look that bad?" She asked with a grimace.

_"Not ta anyone who don't know yeh." _Jax answered with a light chuckle.

"I went to the Archives this morning to get more information on Termina. One of the apprentices, Kitch, helped me find what I needed, and Madam Nu assigned him to help me make sure the texts from Termina made it back in good condition."

_"Yeh actually let her assign ya an apprentice, even for one mission?" _Jax asked, stunned. _"I'd never have expected yeh ta accept that."_

"Apparently, Yoda suggested it. I wasn't happy about it, and he's definitely not my first choice for a Padawan, but I have to admit, he's surprised me."

_"Kitch." _Jax repeated thoughtfully. _"Yeh talkin' of Kitch Surik?"_

"You know him?"

_"Hmm. I know of him; lil' Pax talks 'bout him a lot." _Jax laughed. _"Ye've definitely got yer hands full with him. Rumor has it he's never turned his saber on, much less used it-"_

"It's not rumor." Lor admitted. "He's got light-years to go, but he's making progress."

_"Well, if anybody can whip the boy inta shape my credits are on you." _Jax said. _"Listen, we both get back ter the Capital I found this new diner not far from the Temple, run by a Mon Cal friend o' mine. Yeh in?"_

"Sure." Lor said with a laugh. "Last I checked the Code said nothing about diner, did it?"

_"If it did I musta been asleep in that class. So, where's yer Padawan?"_

"He's not my Padawan." Lor corrected sharply. "Just because I'm helping him and he's impressed me doesn't mean I'm going to take him with me on other missions; I work best alone, remember?"

_"Not true." _Jax countered. _"We seem ta work together good-"_

"You're different." Lor countered. "We've got a special bond, so it's as natural as anything to me. As for Apprentice Surik, he's in the 'fresher. I pushed him further than he's ever been before; where's _your _Padawan?"

_"He's exploring the capital, lookin' fer any signs o' the Princess. He hacked inta the Royal Court's systems an' found a hidden tunnel under the princess's bed. He left about an hour ago to explore the tunnel."_

"You sure that's wise, Jax?" Lor asked. "I mean, this is your first mission together-"

_"With me watchin' over him Pax will do perfectly." _Jax explained. _"One o' his biggest problems will be working on his own; we both know that there are many times when a Jedi must work alone, just as there are many times a Jedi has to work with fellow Jedi ta succeed." _He finished pointedly.

"Yes, one of my biggest flaws. "Lor acknowledged with a laugh. "Anyways, I'll contact you again tomorrow; perhaps you'll have a break in your case by then. I sense my tagalong coming though, and I need a good, warm sani-steam myself."

_"May the Force be with yeh, Lor."_

"And may it be with you, too." Lor responded, preparing to cut the feed.

_"Oh, and Lor, I-"_

"Don't say it." Lor said, suddenly all seriousness. "We both know that road is not open to us, not as long as we remain Jedi Knights."

Jax Talia nodded, knowing she was right, knowing, as they'd discussed before, that what felt so right was also so wrong, so impossible. _"Not yet." _He finished, and before Lor could respond the shimmering blue figure was gone, leaving her alone once more.

She sighed, forcing the rising emotions to the back of her mind. She and Jax, much like Kitch Surik and Pax Onasi, had been the best of friends since their days as younglings. They had laughed together, played together, trained together, and even fought together. The day she had been accepted as Mace Windu's Padawan Learner was the same day he had been accepted as Padawan Learner to the Jedi Knight Plo Koon, and only three days before Lor had passed the Trials Jax had become a full Jedi Knight.

On one of their multiple missions together the two then-Padawans had been separated from their masters and left to fend for themselves on a world in the midst of a great civil war, out in the Outer Rim.

It had been during this mission that the two had discovered their true feelings for one another, feelings that should not exist, feelings that went against the Jedi Code, and yet feelings that made it all feel just right.

Jax and Lor had come oh so close to giving into these feelings, but at the last moment she had refused, unwilling to give up her role as one of the galaxy's proud Guardians of Peace and Justice. Jax had not liked it immediately, but he later agreed that what they had been feeling should be buried, hidden for all times so long as they remained Jedi.

The two had remained just as close as ever following their reunion with their masters and on into their own careers as Jedi Knights. If they didn't speak every day then surely the spoke every other day.

The young Jedi Knight suddenly felt a pang in her heart, a sudden sadness that threatened to overtake her. What would it be like, she wondered, to have a husband, to have children, to have her own family?

"No." Lor told herself immediately, cutting off that train of thought almost immediately. "I have my own family in the Order. I have a stern and proud father in Master Windu and a wise, loving grandfather in Master Yoda."

_'And', _A voice in the back of her mind said wryly. _'Kitch Surik is becoming like a son to you, even if you won't admit it.'_

"Shut up." Lor growled, pushing the voice down.

"Master Kavar?" Kitch said, and it was then that Lor realized she'd just run into the young Jedi Apprentice.

"Sorry, Apprentice Surik, I was just...err...talking to myself."

"My friend, Pax Onasi, has a theory about that."

"Oh?"

"He says it's quiet normal to talk to yourself, answer yourself, and even argue with yourself, but when you start losing those arguments is when you should be worried."

Lor chuckled. "Been there, done that. Listen, Apprentice Surik, I'm going to clean up in the 'fresher. Think you can keep an eye on things until I get out?"

"Of course, Master Kavar."

"AND BLAST IT, STOPPING CALLING ME _'MASTER'_!"

"As you wish, Master Kavar."

* * *

{**Location: **_Destiny's Way, _high orbit above Mytus VII, Corporate Sector}

"Mr. and Mrs. Kasumi," Arianna Surik greeted as she took her seat around the conference table in one of the _Destiny's Way's _many conference rooms. "I apologize for the distance you had to travel to meet with us, but you must understand, for the sake of this fleet, we cannot go any further towards the Core than the Outer Rim."

"No apology needed, Commodore Surik." The husband answered gruffly. "It took what little credits we had left to find a ride out here, but once you succeed it'll have been worth it."

Arianna nodded her head as she recalled her files on the couple sitting before her.

"The information we were given," Waylon said, taking up for his wife. "Says you want us to search for and recover your kidnapped daughter. Do you know who's taken her?"

The man shook his head, and here his wife picked up. "Our daughter was kidnapped in a raid on our homeworld of Onderon nearly a decade ago-"

"And you're just now coming to us?" Arianna gasped. Immediately, however, she realized she'd offended the couple.

"We still love our daughter." The husband snarled. "We've spent the past ten years, and every last one of our credits, looking for her. We believe we've got a location now, but we haven't the credits to continue our search, not to mention the planet she's supposed to be on is one of the most dangerous in the galaxy; that's why we've come to you."

"I apologize if I insinuated that you didn't care for your daughter." Arianna apologized. "Please, tell me all you know about your daughter's abduction."

"Ten years ago a band of pirates attacked the planet of Onderon, kidnapping anyone they thought could bring them a good price on the black market. My husband and I were trapped at work in the capital when the raid took place. After the attack was over we rushed home to check on our family. My father was injured, my mother and brother dead, and our only child missing. They took her." The wife stopped talking, too tearful to continue, leaving her husband to pick up where she'd left off.

"When the Jedi Watchman assigned to our sector returned from a trip to Ambria we appealed to him for help. He said the Order would look for her, but they never found anything. Our daughter, Elianna, was found by Master Zy-Ting to be Force Sensitive; we'd been considering whether or not to give her to the Order to let her train to become a Jedi."

Arianna turned to gaze at her husband; the kidnapping of a Force Sensitive child was a blow to the Order, true, but an even more dangerous thing for the rest of the galaxy. A child who was strong in the Force and who had been kidnapped by dark forces, with no learned control of her powers, could become a very dangerous threat, another Aurra Sing, if not worse..

"We managed to hunt down the bounty hunters who took our Elianna." The wife continued. "One month ago we finally managed to figure out where they took her, but by then the small wealth our family had managed to accumulate was gone and we were left scrapping to get by. Our home was lost, our jobs reassigned; we have nothing left."

Arianna felt a sudden pity for the couple sitting before her. This man and his wife had lost their only child and then had lost their fortune trying to find her, and now they were so close to her, only to have no cash to continue their trek and nothing to show for their troubles.

"We spent our last credits to catch a freighter out here to Mytus Seven and to book a room at an inn below, but the prices are so high we were only able to get it through tomorrow. After that-"

"We've come to you, Commodore Surik," The husband interrupted. "Because we have only recently learned of your reputation. Your Knight Fleet is one of the most powerful privately-owned fleets in the Outer Rims. You, now, are _our _last hope-"

"Say no more, Mr. Kasumi." Arianna interrupted. "I understand your pains; I, too, am a parent. My oldest child, my son, is a Jedi, and my daughters reside here with me. I know how far I would go to rescue any of them." Arianna suddenly found her voice going dark. "I would raze the Capital of the Galactic Republic itself with all of my fleet's firepower to save any of them.

"With that said, you must understand that only in special circumstances do I devote this fleet to finding one person, especially a child. Our main line of work is helping the innocents of warn-torn worlds, planets blockaded by their own vile leaders, and the like; populations who can't defend themselves."

The couple opened their mouth to protest, but Arianna again cut them off.

"_However_, your daughter is Force Sensitive. I was a Jedi Knight myself, many years ago, so I know the consequences of what happens when a child is kidnapped by dark forces and not given the proper training to control their abilities. I will devote my fleet's full resources and powers to finding your daughter and returning her in one piece."

"Thank you, Commodore, thank you so-"

Arianna again cut the wife off.

"I will give orders for one of our shuttles to take you back to the planet's surface so that you can collect your things; you will be given quarters here, and, should you accept, jobs; you will be welcome here for as long as you wish to stay. I assume your father is at the inn, so he will be allowed to stay as well, free of charge."

"That's too generous." The wife answered, bursting into tears. Arianna, in response, reached over and patted the woman's hands gently.

"There's no such thing." She said kindly. "This galaxy grows ever darker, and in that darkness we need as many candles burning as brightly as possible if we are to survive."

"Sergeant Hawkins," Waylon said, speaking into the table's built-in comm unit.

_"Commodore?"_

"Get the _Hawk _ready for sortie A-SAP. Also, prepare one of our personnel shuttles for departure to the planet below; send a message to Captain Zorah to meet me in Briefing Room Three"

_"Aye, Commodore."_

"Mr. and Mrs. Kasumi," Arianna continued. "Do you have any images of your daughter?"

"We do; we can transfer it to your datapad if you wish."

"That would be helpful." Arianna answered. "My R2 unit can progress the holo-image so that we'll have a possible idea of how she looks now. Now, what planet did you track your daughter to?"

The couple looked at one another for a moment before turning back to answer in unison.

"Termina."

Arianna felt her heart nearly stop at the name. She had only heard rumors about that planet, and none of them were good. If those rumors were true then the planet, located on the outer fringes of the galaxy's Tingle Arm, was the most dangerous place in the galaxy. There were stories, usually told in passing in cantinas and docks throughout the Outer Rim, of people who came across the planet and landed to scout it out, never to return...some believed it to be haunted, and a few believed in something even more sinister...

Arianna looked over at Waylon, who, judging by the look on his face, was thinking exactly the same thing she was, and the Force wasn't helping things either.

"Major Boslet," Arianna said, speaking into her comlink now. "Please report to Briefing Room Three."

"Are you positive it's Termina?" Waylon asked a moment later. The couple nodded as the wife began to speak.

"We're positive; that's another reason we've come to you; if anyone can survive that planet and rescue our daughter we know it'll be you."

"Commodores?" A raspy voice asked, and as Arianna turned to regard the intruder she noticed it was her personal aid, the Mon Cal named Zorah.

"Captain Zorah." Arianna greeted. "This is Mr. and Mrs. Kasumi; we are helping them retrieve their abducted daughter. I am leaving orders for them to remain here aboard the _Way _for as long as they'd like. See to it they get decent quarters, and get a separate room for Mrs. Kasumi's father."

"Aye, Commodore."

"Sergeant Hawkins will be escorting them to the planet below to get their things and retrieve Mrs. Kasumi's father."

"Commodores?" Another voice asked, and turning Arianna began repeating these orders to her fleet's human third-in-command.

"Now, Commodore Sebastian and I are going to take the _Ebon Hawk _on ahead to Termina and begin the search for the missing child. I want you to remain here and make sure the refit and taking on of supplies goes as scheduled. Once done I want the fleet to proceed ahead to Termina, but wait on the outer edges of the system, just to be safe; I don't want to risk the entire fleet before I know what's on that planet."

"Aye aye, Commodore." The Major said, but the look on his face said he had more to say.

"Major, you always have permission to speak freely."

"Thank you, ma'am." The major answered. "Are you sure it's a wise idea to proceed to Termina alone, without the fleet backing you up? The refit is almost done, most of the supplies have been loaded; we can make do with what we have for now."

"No, Major." Arianna answered. "With this kind of situation I want the ships to be fully supplied and ready for combat at a moment's notice. Commodore Sebastian and I can handle ourselves just fine until you arrive."

"Besides," Waylon added. "We fully trust your ability to, shall we say, speed the process up some."

"Aye, sir." The Major said, smiling now.

"Once we're gone you are in charge of the fleet and Captain Zorah will serve as your second-in-command."

"Understood, ma'am. What about your daughters?"

For Arianna there was no decision to be made.

"I want them to remain here aboard the _Destiny's Way_." She answered. "I don't think it wise to take them with us; not to Termina."

"I agree." Waylon answered quickly. "I suggest, however, we make one side-stop before we head on to Termina."

"Where to?" Arianna asked.

"Sernpidal." Her husband answered. "Rand and Hawya have just finished up a mission there; we could always use their help on this mission."

Arianna considered her husband's proposal. They weren't that far from Sernpidal, and Rand was deathly effective with his twin lightsabers. Hawya the Wookie was also just as deadly with her massive double-bladed lightsaber; they could use the two, that was without doubt; however, going to Sernpidal would put them a full day behind schedule, and that was if nothing went wrong. Finally, Arianna nodded her head.

"You're right, I suppose. I have a very bad feeling about Termina."

"Well then, my dear wife, the sooner we leave the better."

"And so we shall take our leave, my friends." Arianna said as she and Waylon stood up, offering the husband and wife a bow before turning and walking off. Now they just had to bid farewell to their daughters, collect their things, and go explore a ghost planet to rescue an abducted child who may have since become a monster...yep, Arianna thought with a rueful smile; just another day at the office.

* * *

**Okay, so what'd you guys think? Really? Yeah? You serious? Hmmm...good point. Tell ya what, why don't you tell me all about it over a nice, helpful review. Yep, there you go, right down there, _that's _the ticket. **

**Seriously, though; if I don't start getting some more reviews on this story soon, I'm going to discontinue and, eventually, delete it, so come on, take just a minute a leave me some kind of review to let me know how I'm doing.**


	5. Brotherhood

**I'M BACK! Here we are, with another exciting chapter of _Star Wars: Episode Zero: Trials of the Jedi_. **

**I would like to thank **CC-645 **and **DarthNexus9000 **for their kind reviews, and for making me remember the passion I have for fanfictions. So, regardless of the number of reviews, this story will be finished. And, to apologize for taking two months to update, I've posted two chapters today. And, as always, _Disney _owns _Star Wars_, not me. Now, on with the show!**

* * *

**ADDITIONAL STORIES BY **Guardian Kitch**:**

_**Star Wars: Jedi Wasteland (Star Wars/Star Wars: The Clone Wars)**_

_**Teen Titans: The Approaching Storm (Teen Titans/Star Wars)**_

_**Gates of Terabithia (Bridge to Terabithia)**_

_**Bridge to Terabithia II: Return of the Queen (Bridge to Terabithia)**_

_**Sins of the Father (Harry Potter)**_

_**Harry Potter and the Labyrinth of Evil (Harry Potter)**_

* * *

_**Chapter Five: Brotherhood**_

{**Location:** Low Orbit, Termina, Tingle Arm, beyond the Outer Rim Territories}

Kitch rubbed his eyes sleepily as he entered the cockpit. For the past three days he had been sparring almost non-stop with Master Kavar, learning how to better defend himself without the use of a lightsaber, and while he was still far behind other apprentices of his age he knew he'd made great progress towards where he needed to go. Now, however, despite his aching, tired body he felt more awake than ever; the blue/green world of Termina loomed directly ahead of the ship, completely filling the viewport.

"Termina." Kitch whispered, remembering instantly the data he'd gathered concerning this outermost planet of the Tingle arm. "Master Kavar," He said suddenly. "Can I ask for a favor?"

"Depends on what that favor might be."

"Termina is on the very edge of the galaxy." He explained. "Traveling away from the planet and the core you have less than half a minute before you'd officially be considered extra-galactic. In fact, once a millennia the planet's orbit takes it beyond the galactic borders; as far as we know, it's the only planet in the entire galaxy to go beyond the galaxy."

"And your favor is...what, exactly?"

"Can we alter our path so I can see what it's like to see beyond the galaxy?"

Lor Kavar laughed. "I don't suppose that'd do us much harm." She responded. "The ancient enclave is in that direction, anyways." And as she finished speaking she grabbed the ship's controls and began altering their course...in only five seconds he had his wish.

"Wow." He breathed, unable to think of anything else as he got his first look beyond the galaxy. He'd always expected space beyond the galaxy to be just completely dark. His brain knew better, of course, but his imagination was lacking in that education. Instead of pure darkness there were a multitude of colorful ion curtains covering the space, and a limited number of stars dotting the darkness along the way.

"Do you think there's life beyond the galaxy?" Kitch asked as they continued their descent into the upper atmosphere of Termina.

"Well, that's a hard question to answer." Lor explained. "I, however, am inclined to think there is. After all, there are other galaxies throughout the universe, and with what we know of our own galaxy it'd be hard to not think of life in other galaxies."

"I'd be nice to meet an extra-galactic being." Kitch said, more to himself than to his companion, but that still didn't keep her from hearing it.

"The Jedi have an old proverb about making wishes-"

"When one wishes for something he must be careful, for he'll usually get it."

"Right." Lor said. "Now, getting your focus back to the here and now, where it belongs, man the scanners and see what we've got waiting for us."

"My apologies." Kitch responded, powering up the Sensors Array. At first look it was like other jungle planets teeming with native animal life. However, after spending nearly a full minute he realized that this couldn't be further from the truth.

"This planet is off the charts, Master Kavar." He found himself explaining. "Not is it only massive for a planet that's not a gas giant but I also see immense jungles and forests, vast oceans, massive mountains, scorching deserts, and freezing glacier-covered polar areas. The Archives told me this, of course, but seeing it is something all-together different. The short-range scanners are picking up massive life-form readings too...these charts are too great to be merely indigenous animal and plant life." Kitch paused, recalling his initial research on the planet. "But that counters all of our intelligence on the planet. There have been no known visitors to Termina since our wars with the Sith, and no Jedi assigned to it since back before the Treaty of Coruscant, over 3,000 years ago."

"Master Windu has a saying about Republic Intelligence; It's one percent intelligence and ninety-nine percent imagination. Stretch out with the Force, tell me what you think."

Kitch nodded, doing as instructed, and immediately he felt overwhelmed, so overwhelmed he slumped forward, clenching his head in his hands.

"I've never felt the Force in such a way before." He said slowly. "It's-it's too much, Master Kavar. It's so strong, but I also feel darkness."

Lor nodded her head. "I've felt it, only once. This entire planet is a Force Nexus. The Force is multiplied a hundredfold, but that is as much a curse as it is a gift."

"Master Kavar?"

"The gift is in the fact that this strength allows easier access to the Force, and when you use it the effects become stronger. However, the curse is the fact that it's impossible to sense any one person or animal anywhere near you."

"So it both blinds and reveals."

"Apparently, the perfect world to have a Jedi Enclave."

"Even though the Order hasn't kept up enclaves in centuries, perhaps even since the Sith were thought to have died off."

By now the _Challenger_ was deep in the planet's atmosphere and Kitch, still keeping an eye on the ship's scanners, began locking in the enclave's coordinates.

"Master Kavar, you said you've felt this once before?"

"I have."

"Where?"

"A cave on the planet Dagobah, a cave powerful in the Dark Side."

"What was in it?"

"Only what I took with me." Lor answered cryptically, and as Kitch focused on her words a flashing sensor on his right caught his attention.

"What is it?" Lor asked absent-mindedly, concentrating on the task of piloting the ship.

"This can't be right." Kitch said, studying the information coming in to the _Challenger's_ bridge. "No, it can't be right, it's impossible."

"What's impossible?" Lor growled.

"According to our short-range sensors there's a massive build-up of energy coming from an unknown location in the jungle below us."

"What kind of power build-up?"

"If this information is correct," Kitch began, activating the hull's holorecorders so that he could gain an adequate visual on this problem "It's a signature coming from some kind of weapons system." The visual popped up, confirming his suspicion; what he saw chilled his blood and spurred him into action.

"Shields coming on line now." Kitch said calmly, remembering his Jedi training as he began flipping a series of buttons off to his left.

"Kitch, what-"

"Anti-air turbolaser and quadlaser batteries." Kitch answered quickly, reading the data as it began to pour in. "They're tracking us too, but it's odd...it's taking them too long to power up."

"Could be those weapons haven't been fired in ages." Lor mused, still keeping the ship on track.

"They've got a lock too." He added. "And now they're firing on us."

In response Lor banked the cruiser hard to port, the green lasers of the enemy fire streaking by and harmlessly into the atmosphere. More laser fire shot up into the atmosphere, but their ship continued to shoot forward, and before too long Kitch was happily reporting that they were no longer within range...at least, of the ground-based dangers.

"Incoming fighter craft." He suddenly said, keeping his calm as he watched the blips come out of nowhere on the ship's radar screen. Even as the young apprentice was speaking the ship shook as laser fire scattered along their rear shields.

"How many do you count?" Lor asked, increasing her evasive maneuvers.

"Six." Kitch answered. "Master, could this get any-?" He stopped speaking as another alarm klaxon went off. "Blast it!" Kitch said, quickly losing his calm demeanor. "Six proton torpedoes, incoming from twelve o' clock, Master Kavar."

Even as he spoke he could see the deadly missiles streaking through the Terminus atmosphere towards them, and immediately Lor pulled the cruiser up, and while the cockpit avoided impact the bottom hull wasn't so lucky. Yet another alarm began blaring throughout the cockpit.

"Master Kavar, the ventral deflector screens are down." Kitch explained. "Perhaps-"

He was cut off, however, as another explosion rocked the ship; looking over his instruments the young apprentice realized they'd also lost their rear deflector screens.

"We'll withdraw." Lor said, pulling the Republic cruiser up once more. "I hate it, but we'll report to the Council and see what they want us to do, now that we know we won't be welcomed on-"

She was cut off as the six fighters swooped in from the front of the ship, attacking their forward shields now with scattered laser fire, and seconds later the ship rocked violently, and this time the ship's lights and other vital systems blinked off and then weakly returned to life as the ship began to slow in its climb.

"We've lost our engines." Kitch said, but Lor nodded her head.

"It would appear that withdrawing is no longer an option. Apprentice Surik, fasten your crash-webbing; this is going to be a rocky landing."

"Right there, Master Kavar." Kitch said, pointing out a small lake. "Land the _Challenger_ in the lake and we can swim from there."

"We'll be more likely to survive the landing by doing that, that's for sure." She agreed, fighting with the ship's controls to angle the vessel towards the lake. "This would be a much easier task if we still had at least one engine online."

Another rock as more torpedoes crashed into the top of the ship.

"We're losing the dorsal deflector screens too." He said.

"It's all up to the Will of the Force now." Lor said as the ship shook violently. "Listen, should you survive without me, I want you to continue our mission and avoid detection; within a week the Council will send a search party for us. The code for the hidden vault is Seven dash Omega Bliss slash One stroke See Vantik."

Kitch said nothing as he nodded his head, watching as the land loomed ahead of them, and he couldn't help but wonder if Master Kavar could make the lake landing as he'd suggested...either way, he knew, it would be close. Without even realizing what he was doing, Kitch began to speak.

"There is no Emotion, there is only Peace. There is no Ignorance, there is only Knowledge. There is no Passion, there is only Serenity. There is no Chaos, there is only Harmony-"

"There is no Death, there is only the Force." Lor finished, the ship now seconds away from impact.

"Thus is the way of the Jedi Knight." Kitch added, and at that moment the _Challenger_ slammed into the lake. However, instead of beginning to sink into the depths of the lake the ship bounced off of the water's surface and over a hundred feet into the air, still moving forward...and then the _Challenger_ slammed with stunning finality into the ground below, and as explosions rocketed throughout the remains of the _Challenger_ Kitch's head slammed hard into the console before him, and his entire world went blissfully black.

* * *

{**Location:** Orange Moon District, Hydia, Inner Core}

Pax could feel the frustration building up inside of him as, for the third day running, he made his way through the vast slums that made up the Orange Moon District, which, as Pax had discovered three days ago, was named because of the affect the gases that escaped the district's factories had on the atmosphere; at night the planet's three natural satellites were indeed orange for this section of the city-planet.

He had interviewed dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of citizens, showing a holo-image of the planet's Senior Princess to everyone he came across, but not a single person could remember seeing her.

And his nervousness did not help either. The young Padawan hated not being able to speak to his Master as needed, and from the moment he had entered the hidden tunnel under the Princess's bed he had been unable to reach the Jedi Knight, despite the modifications he had made to his comlink so that the power would be capable of reaching the surface; even now, in the Orange Moon District, he failed to raise his fellow Jedi.

"Calm down and take a deep breath of oxygen." Pax reprimanded himself, knowing that it was not in a Jedi's nature to get frustrated. He stopped, closing his eyes and forcing in a deep breath of air, holding it for three full seconds before releasing it, and twice more he repeated this step; he could instantly feel his mind and body calming down as his breathing became regular once more.

"Leave me alone you filthy slime!" A woman's voice shouted. "No, you won't take her from me!"

"Leave her alone!" A man's voice commanded, and his response was a single blaster shot, followed by a girl's terrified yells.

The voice was faint, far off, but Pax turned on his heels, shutting out all other noise except for the screaming woman. He began moving quickly, cutting his way through the crowded street and ignoring anyone who spoke to him.

He found a narrow alley between two unoccupied buildings and quickly turned in, running down the narrow walkway until he reached the end, where the alleyway cut off in a T-junction, one path going left and the other to the right, leaving only one pressing question: which way should he go?

Right. Pax didn't know for sure why that word popped into his mind, though he suspected his Jedi training and the Force had a hand in it, but at this moment he knew he could not be picky, and so he turned right and began running once more as a second blaster shot rang out, this one much closer than the last.

He came to a four-way intersection in the narrow alleyway and blew through it, running as fast as his feet would carry him...only to stop and backpedal as his brain deciphered what his peripheral vision had seen.

At the intersection he looked off to the left and noticed a trio of guards moving towards the end of the pathway, and there, barely visible in front of them, was a man, on his knees, backing up and trying to stand; his body language was clearly that of someone trying to protect something...or someone.

"What is going on here?" Pax asked, moving forward cautiously.

One of the guards turned, raising an elegant blaster rifle at the young Jedi. "It's none of your business boy, so go home before your family's earnings are garnished for the next year."

As the man turned back around Pax unclipped his training saber from his utility belt, wishing suddenly he had a weapon set to full power.

_Snap-hiss._

"Would you care running that threat by me one more time?" Pax asked, moving closer to the guards. The man turned around, again raising his blaster, his mouth opened...however, he stopped at the sight of the green blade in Pax's hand.

"What," He recovered quickly. "You think just because you're a Jedi you're above our laws?"

"No being is above the law," Pax responded. "You included. I requested, most kindly, to be enlightened to this situation, not to engage in hostilities with planetary officials." He said, noticing the emblem on the right breastplate of the man's armor.

"These vermin are behind on paying their taxes and we have been ordered by His Majesty to collect on that debt."

"Stand down." Pax said, moving forward as he lowered his lightsaber. The official looked ready to argue, but he did as Pax asked, moving aside so that Pax could approach the unlucky citizens.

The man's shoulder was oozing blood from where a single blaster shot had hit him, but while the injury looked severe it would heal just fine, provided it got the proper treatment.

"Why was this denizen shot?" Pax asked, shutting his lightsaber off and kneeling before the man to inspect the wound closer.

"He's impeding us in our duties." Another of the men answered, as though it were the most obvious fact in the world.

"How so?" Pax asked, scanning the man over once more. "He looks unarmed to my eyes."

"He wouldn't let us get to the girl-"

"YOU WERE BEATING HER!" The man roared. "YOU WERE GOING TO HAVE YOUR WAY WITH HER!"

"Is she your daughter?" Pax asked, motioning the girl forward so that he could inspect her.

"My sister." The man said as the five-year old child slowly made her way forward, and what the young Padawan saw made him draw in a sharp breath; both of her eyes were black, her nose was bloody, and bruises adorned her face.

"What criminal acts could a child like this have committed to warrant such assaults on her person?" Pax asked, standing up in such a manner that his body was between the child and the three officials. "What crimes could she possibly have committed against the Crown?"

"As I said before," The lead official said. "These vermin are behind on their taxes-"

"Of which no citizen, under the laws of the Galactic Senate of the Republic, shall bear any responsibility until he or she has reached the age of eighteen standard galactic years."

"Her parents-"

"Their debt is irrelevant." Pax countered. "No child is to be held accountable for the criminal acts and/or debts of their matriarch, patriarch. or other relations; this has been law since the Republic was founded."

"The laws of the Republic mean nothing to us!" The official snapped. "Our laws have been in effect since before your beloved Republic was even a thought! The debts and crimes of anyone are the responsibility of their entire bloodlines-"

"Then I must place you all under arrest." Pax answered, hoping they would not realize that he did not have such authority as a mere Padawan. "Lay down your weapons, now."

"Or what, Jedi?"

"Sir," Pax said sadly. "Your female sibling does not need to bear witness to what I must soon do; guard her eyes, will you not? After all, her innocence should not be forced to die off so soon merely because of lawless law."

"O-of c-course, Master Jedi."

_Snap-Hiss._

"I am most apologetic, sir, but I fear I am only a Jedi Apprentice at this moment." Pax said as the blaster rifles raised up towards him.

"I wish not to harm any of you." He said, hoping that these officials would listen to reason.

The first blaster shot echoed out, but Pax was already on the move, bringing up his blade to easily bat the shot backwards and into the breastplate of the firing official. More fire rang out from that man's compatriots as he staggered back, merely shocked by the impact against his armor, but Pax was deftly somersaulting high into the air, landing behind the officials as their blasters spun around to track him.

As the Padawan landed he thrust his blade forward, burning a hole in the far right official's neck as his blade cut into the man's throat.

He then retracted the blade and, as the first official fell dead to the ground, sidestepped another volley of shots, again bringing his weapon up to defend himself.

A stray bolt nearly caught the young Jedi off-guard, and only by throwing himself to the ground did he avoid a deadly accident. He quickly jumped back to his feet, reactivating his blade just in time to deflect a volley of blaster bolts into the head of the second guard...now, Pax observed, only the lead guard himself remained.

"My blade has already claimed the souls of both your companions, for whom I grieve terribly; do not force me to grieve for you as well." Pax warned the man, making sure to keep his emotions in check.

"Jedi aren't merciful." The man spat. "We know well the stories of your kind."

"Indeed you do." Pax mocked, shutting off his lightsaber. "Surrender your weapon to me and I will allow you to go forth from this place free of harm or consequence." He finished, clipping his lightsaber back to his belt. He knew it was stupid to leave himself undefended in front of an enemy who could (and would) blast him in the blink of an eye, but the young apprentice also knew he had the Force; if this last official tried anything against him he would be just fine.

"You mock me."

"If I do I apologize most sincerely; this is not my goal, I assure you. Place your rifle on the ground and you will be free to leave. To prove my words as true I will disarm myself." Pax said, now unclipping his lightsaber and tossing it to the ground at the feet of the injured brother.

Eying Pax suspiciously the sole remaining official slowly bent over and gently placed his rifle on the ground, and, still eyeing the Jedi, began moving away, back towards the main alleyway.

"I suggest you call for reinforcements soon; no one deserves to have their bodies left to the elements, not given a proper funeral."

"I'll do that, Jedi." The man answered, and turning around he headed for the main alleyway.

"YOU'LL DIE!" The brother roared suddenly, springing to his feet and igniting Pax's discarded weapon as he charged forward, clumsily slashing and chopping with the weapon.

"No." Pax said calmly as the official turned to watch his death. The Padawan reached out with the Force, jerking the lightsaber free of the citizen's hand and summoning it back to its proper owner.

"You-" The man spat, turning to face Pax, who in turn cut him off with a shake of his head.

"No, friend, he will not die, not now. I gave him my word that he'd be free if he surrendered, and I do plan to honor that agreement. Go, sir; you have a report to file, I am sure."

The official nodded his head in thanks and turned, taking off once more as Pax replaced his weapon to its proper place as the older woman and wounded brother bent over to collect two of the fallen rifles.

"I apologize; I believe introductions are in order. I am Pax Onasi, Padawan Learner of the Jedi Order. Sir, allow me to investigate that wound of yours; it does look most grievous."

"My name's Tarvo Klevs. This is my little sister, Grace, and my mother, Mathulda. Why'd you do it?" The man asked as he sat down, allowing Pax to do as he had requested.

"Why did I do what?" Pax asked politely as he pulled the ruined tunic free of the man's torso.

"Spare that last guard; he's the one that almost-"

"I am well aware of the crimes he committed, and the crimes he nearly committed." Pax answered. "Jedi respect life, in all forms. He will live the remainder of his days with the shame and guilt of those actions, and that is often enough punishment."

"But he tried to kill you."

"He believed I was the enemy; I have taught him different." Pax answered, pulling what little medical supplies he had free of the pouch on his belt.

"What's a Jedi Knight doing on Hydia, anyways?" The man asked with a grunt as antiseptic gel was applied to the wound. "The royalty has rarely ever allowed it before-"

"I am on a sanctioned quest to locate the missing Senior Princess of your planet. I was looking for her when I was informed of your situation."

"Good luck with that; every last person on this planet's likely looking for her; there's a one hundred thousand credit reward for the people who return her to the palace; five hundred thousand if they reveal who took her."

"Makes sense; many beings in the galaxy would kill their own relations for that kind of money." Pax responded, now applying the bacta patch to the man's wound. "I theorize she's on your neighboring planet of Volcam One, but there seems to be no spaceports here in the Orange-"

"There's one." The woman corrected, cutting Pax off. "It's not too far from here."

"Is it possible you could guide me to this spaceport?" Pax asked politely.

"We were on our way there when those Hydian Revenue Service officers caught up with us." The man answered. "Just because we're a week behind on paying our taxes..." He trailed off, his face going red with embarrassment. Pax, in response, placed a comforting hand on the man's shoulder.

"Do not be embarrassed that you are behind with money." He said kindly. "It is a problem all good beings face across the galaxy-"

"We shouldn't be, though." The man answered as Pax helped him to his feet. "I make great money working at the Royal spaceport, double galactic minimum wage standards."

"I most humbly apologize for intruding, then, but why-"

"On Hydia all citizens must pay 98% of what they earn to the Crown as taxes, one reason the government here is so rich; they have zero tolerance for those who fall behind."

"This crime is most wrong." Pax said as he led the trio back out of the alley. "If the Galactic Senate found out-"

"Bah!" The man snapped. "The Senate turns a blind eye to what the Crown does. It's only the planet that controls the galaxy's three most important trade routes, after all. If the Crown blockaded the planet against outside forces the galactic economy would freeze in its tracks and the Republic would crumple."

"But once you're in hyperspace-"

"Hyperspace offers little hope." The man cut in. "The Hydian Fleet has several ships equipped with gravity wells that can interdict any ship, even in hyperspace."

"But that technology is illegal!" Pax gasped, unable to believe how far this planet now stood on the other side of the law. Tarvo snorted at this.

"Kid, haven't you learned by now?" He asked. "The Crown believes themselves superior to everyone else, including the so-called Senate. They've so much money they can pay off anyone sent to investigate the Interdictors."

Pax said nothing as they walked. He knew they had an excellent, valid point. Whether he was fond of it or not, the fact was that, with the Republic lacking a standing military force, there would be no way they could break any blockade the Hydians forced on their planet, especially when their own planetary fleet owned Interdictor ships capable of pulling other vessels from hyperspace, a technology that, while certainly not new, was so unstable the Senate had, only a century ago, banned all research and study on the technology, as well as the construction of gravity wells.

When Jax had first informed him of their assignment to Hydia, the younger Jedi had only slightly understood the need for their services on this planet, but now, as Pax followed his new companions, he suddenly understood that the Jedi were definitely needed on this planet, just not in the capacity originally advertised.

"Do you have any tangible evidence of this criminal act?" Pax asked slowly, hoping he was not pushing things too far. "About the Interdictors, I mean."

"No." The woman, Tarvo's mother, answered. "My brother was assigned as the system's new Customs inspector, and it looked like he'd bring real change to Hydia too. He suspected that the fleets contained gravity wells, but when he used his new authority to inspect one he disappeared and hasn't been seen since."

"The official investigation concluded he was captured in a pirate attack that occurred that same day, but that's bantha poodoo."

"Could I inquire as to how you know that fact?" Pax asked kindly.

"Because," Mathulda answered. "At the time of the attack he was on the fleet's flagship, looking for the gravity wells. The pirates never boarded the flagship; in fact, the flagship never fired a shot against the pirates...that job was left to the rest of our fleet."

"I theorize he delved too close to the truth, then, and was forced into silence. Has he been replaced?"

"By the next morning." Tarvo answered. "His successor, Heath Jacks, is the third most corrupt human on this planet."

"As clear a conspiracy as the waters in The Room of One Thousand Fountains." Pax answered, a sudden idea coming into his head, one that he suspected had been lingering there from the moment he'd learned of this planet. "As Jedi we are here only to locate the Senior Princess of Hydia and ensure she is at peak health; to investigate anything else without permission from either the Crown, Senate, or Jedi High Council would be a clear violation of the Jedi Code. However, if evidence was brought to us before that assignment is finished, evidence proving that Interdiction Technologies are aboard even one ship of the Hydian Fleet, then we would be required to intervene."

"You're saying that if we got evidence that the Crown was using and research Interdiction tech then you Jedi would arrest them?"

"I can promise nothing save that we would be required to investigate. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine may have only just took the reins of the Galactic Senate but I sense he would be most strict against the Crown for this, perhaps even allowing the Jedi to arrest them. After all, he has declared war on corruption all throughout the Republic."

"And if the Senior Princess wasn't found by that point elections would be forced, and that'd allow someone new, someone honest, to take office."

"The future is always in motion; nothing is for certain." Pax explained. "However, I theorize that is what would happen, affirmative."

"My best friend is the Chief Engineer aboard one of the ships suspected of having gravity wells, and he's in good with the ship's captain." Tarvo explained. "I'll meet with him today and see if he can't help us out."

"Do you trust him?"

"With my life."

"Good; what about your sister's life? What about the life of your mother?"

"What do you mean?"

"If he fails, or worse, commits an act of treason against your friendship, then you will not share the risk of the Crown's Wrath alone: they will come after your entire bloodline to ensure their secret is kept."

"I trust him that far and more." Tarvo answered. "He has often been the one to tell me that we must take action against the Crown if we want to change things; he's even formed a Rebellion to Dissolve the Crown, but our numbers are just too small right now to openly move against the crown; too bad most of our citizens are too afraid of our rulers to join us."

"No government can rule without the consent of the people." Pax explained. "Be they a democracy or a ruthless tyrant, it really is smut in the end. My friend, nay, my brother, often says history proves to us that the people always make their own minds up, that they always choose their own destiny, even, and most usually, when the government is ruled by an evil dictator, and now I am beginning to theorize he may be correct."

"For a mere boy you are rather wise." Mathulda said.

"No ma'am, I am not wise." Pax corrected. "I am a Jedi."

"Here we are." Tarvo said suddenly, indicating a building set back and away from the others; had he not said anything the young apprentice would have merely assumed it was another unused building, as was the style down here.

"It might not look like much," Tarvo explained. "But that's because the government take's nearly every credit my father makes on it, and they limit the number of flights allowed out per day to six."

"Six?" Pax asked in disbelief.

"And private ships are forbidden from landing here at all. We have to limit our transports to only certain planets. The only planets we ferry to are Coruscant, Volcam One, Alderaan, Commenor, Kuat, and Cato Nemoida."

"In other words, planets with a great wealth of currency." Pax summarized. "Except for your galactic neighbor, Volcam One."

"The only reason we're allowed to transport there is because of the debt they owe us, though following Princess Wasoni's disappearance those runs have been limited to one every afternoon."

"DADDY!" The little girl shouted as they entered the spaceport's main office, and the child brushed passed Pax and into the open arms of her tired, dirty father, a man who looked like he had known hard work all his life and looked to have been up since before the dawn of Hydia's primary. "LOOKIE LOOKIE!" She continued. "THE JEDI SAVED US FROM THE BAD SOLDIER PEOPLE!"

"A Jedi, eh?" The man asked, hoisting the girl onto his broad shoulders as Pax offered the customary bow. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"I have been assigned to assist with my full capabilities in the quest to locate and retrieve the Senior Princess of Hydia."

"Damn boy speaks like a bloody droid." The man mumbled, wheeling on his son. "What happened to you, and what happened to your sister?"

"HRS caught us halfway here." Tarvo explained. "They shot me, beat her, and would've done worse too, had it not been for Jedi Onasi."

"Does Jedi Onasi have a first name?" The man growled, turning to face Pax once more.

"Pax, sir." Pax answered.

"Well then, Pax, you have my gratitude. Most Republic officials turn a blind eye to our suffering."

"And therein lies the great, fundamental difference, sir; I am no usual official of the Galactic Republic; I am a Jedi."

"So then, young Jedi, how can I be of assistance?"

"I discovered a secluded tunnel in the private chambers belonging to the Senior Princess, which led me here to the Orange Moon District. I theorize that she may have been taken offworld, likely to your neighbors on Volcam One. I was wondering if you'd seen her come through."

"Kid, if you were anybody else I'd show you to the door...with a blaster. However, you're Jedi, and you saved my family. I reckon you're decent enough."

"So you _have_ seen her."

"She was with a small group of people and heavily clothed; couldn't even see her face, but she willingly paid double for their passage to Volcam One's capital."

"With all due respect, sir, but if you could not see her face then how do you know it was the Senior Princess."

"When you've been forced to worship someone for over a decade you tend to know her. Yep, I figured it was her, but even had I known at the time she was missing I'd not have turned her in."

"Might I inquire as to why not?"

"I'll do nothing to help the Crown survive." The man answered. "Besides, the money she paid with moved us from being a year behind on our taxes to only a week."

"I empathize, sir, and I would not ask you for this, but-"

"You want to book passage to Volcosis." The man answered matter-of-factly, referring to the capital city of Volcam One. "I have our daily flight due to depart in one hour; consider free passage thanks for saving my family. Sorry it's not more, kid, but-"

"Thank you, Patriarch Klevs; I do truly appreciate your hospitality."

"I was just about to take my supper; reckon you should join us, keep your head down in the meantime."

"It would be my pleasure to join you in your evening meal." Pax answered, following the family forward into their dining area.

* * *

{**Location:** Temple of The One, Termina, Tingle Arm, beyond the Outer Rim}

**The dark is generous.**

** Its first gift is concealment: our true faces lie in the dark beneath our skins, our true hearts remain shadowed deeper still. But the greatest concealment lies not in protecting our secret truths, but in hiding from us the truths of others. The dark protects us from what we dare not know.**

** Its second gift is comforting illusion: the ease of gentle dreams in night's embrace, the beauty that imagination brings to what would repel in day's harsh light. But the greatest of its comforts is the illusion that the dark is temporary: that every night brings a new day. Because it is day that is temporary. Day is the illusion.**

** Its third gift is the light itself: as days are defined by the nights that divide them, as stars are defined by the infinite black through which they wheel, the dark embraces the light, and brings it forth from the center of its own self. With each victory of the light, it is the dark that wins.**

**The dark is generous, and it is patient.**

** It is the dark that seeds cruelty into justice, that drips contempt into compassion, that poisons love with grains of doubt.**

** The dark can be patient, because the slightest drop of rain will cause those seeds to sprout. The rain will come, and the seeds will sprout, for the dark is the soil in which they grow, and it is the clouds above them, and it waits behind the star that gives them light.**

** The dark's patience is infinite. Eventually, even stars burn out.**

**The dark is generous, and it is patient, and it always wins.**

** It always wins because it is everywhere. It is in the wood that burns in your hearth, and in the kettle on the fire; it is under your chair and under your table and under the sheets on your bed. Walk in the midday sun and the dark is with you,**

**attached to the soles of your feet.**

**The brightest light casts the darkest shadow.**

How many times had she heard those words, the petite eleven-year old girl with dirty-blonde hair asked herself as she strode silently through the narrow corridor that led to the Command Bunker of the Temple of the One, the home to the great Lords of the Sith. How many times had her mentor, the great Sith Warrior, Darth Vector, drilled that lesson into her mind? How many times, during the End-of-Rotation Cycle Sacrifice, had she listened to The One mutter those very words?

She stopped before the door and rapped thrice, dropping to one knee as she bowed her head and waited for a response.

She was a mere Sith Acolyte, not even an apprentice, unworthy of a Sith name. She had learned much of the Dark Side during her studies over the past several years; she was impossible to detect when employing her stealth and infiltration skills, and she'd recently learned the techniques behind Force Lightning, one of the most powerful weapons any Sith could employ, but there was still a wealth of knowledge to be had, things she must learn before she became a Lady of the Sith. She smiled as she kept her gaze on the floor; she may not be worthy of a Sith name right now, but something in the Force told her that would soon change.

The door hissed open and immediately she wiped the smile free of her face; it'd be best not to let a High Lord see such an expression.

"What filth dares blemish the halls of my ancestors? What weakness dares dim my powers?"

"It is merely I, High Lord Ares, Acolyte Eight Nine Three Seven."

"A mere acolyte." The man mused. "You are unworthy of _living_ in my presence." And before the young girl could speak she felt the powerful surge of Force Lightning enter her body, and while the pain tore at every fiber of her being she dared not move, dare not scream out in pain, and dare not fight back, despite her anger and hatred at being abused in such a manner.

"The girl knows her place." The High Lord answered a minute later, ending his assault on the Acolyte. "She may yet become worthy of a Sith name. You may rise, vermin."

"The child is powerful." A familiar woman's voice said as the Acolyte stood. "Of course, she _has_ to be powerful, she is my underling; I have little doubt she'll prove herself worthy of my knowledge before another rotational cycle is up." The Twi'Lek Sith said.

"I will kill you for this, one day, High Lord Ares, of this you may rest assured."

"A mere acolyte and she's already threatening a High Lord of the Dark Council; yes, I can sense your anger, child." He said, turning and kneeling so that they were now face-to-face. "Give in to that anger, hone your hatred of me, girl. Remember all I have done to hurt you, to torture you, to embarrass you."

As he spoke a bar of crimson flashed into existence, barely cutting the front of her robes before it snuffed into nothingness once more. This attack was followed by a powerful rush of darkened wind, and within seconds the Acolyte's body was nude, bare for all present to see. With even more anger now rising up inside of her, she saw her vision beginning to go red, felt her body began to shake from anger as she found herself longing to thrust her blade deep into his skull…

"That's the spirit!" The High Lord said, laughing as though he relished what he was doing. "Your anger gives you focus, your hatred makes you stronger! Use those emotions to strike me down child!"

It was her turn to laugh.

"High Lord, I know not enough to kill you, such is the reason for your existence." She held her hands forward, allowing those dark emotions to fully fuel her. The blue-pronged lightning shot forward, tearing into the Sith before her, though it was only three seconds before his own blast sent the Acolyte tumbling backwards, the man now laughing harder than ever.

"Lady Vector, this one has great promise. Train her well and she could become the strongest of us all...provided she learn her place!" And as the naked acolyte lie there on the ground the Force Lightning tore into her once more, this time with far more power, but again she only took it, knowing better than to fight back or scream for mercy; it was not the way of the Sith to be merciful, after all.

"Rise, child, and take comfort knowing you have earned the right to stand before me today."

A cloak appeared out of thin air, allowing the girl to wrap herself in it as she followed in the High Lord's footsteps to an ancient-looking table mounted with a holoprojector.

"I came the moment you called for me, Lady Vector." She explained. "What is thy bidding?"

"A ship sporting Galactic Republic markings just arrived, and was shot down by Flights A and B of Iron Squadron; it crash-landed near a lake not far from the ancient ruins of the Jedi." A deep voice boomed, coming from a broad, hooded figure at the front of the room. Immediately she recognized the second most powerful being on Termina; the Dread Lord, Theron.

"Jedi scum, here on Termina?" The girl hissed, unwilling to believe it as she studied the holographic image of the abandoned Jedi Enclave.

"Perhaps, or perhaps it is merely a Republic exploration team charting this sector of the galaxy. Either way, you will go with your mentor and High Lord Ares to investigate. If it's Republic officials, kill all them all."

"And if it's Jedi?" She asked.

"Then you will bring a Jedi to me, alive."

"As you wish, Lord Theron."

"Child," He continued. "High Lord Ares is correct; in you the Force runs strong. One day I foresee you becoming the most powerful Sith on this planet; you could perhaps lead our Dark forces in their conquest of the galaxy; at The One's side you could watch as the Jedi Temple becomes ash! Of this I am certain. If you are forced to kill a Jedi, propel you into the ranks of the Crimson Brotherhood, it would; you would gain a Sith name immediately."

Yes, my lord." She answered, understanding the implications of his words.

"You are to bring me a Jedi, alive. If you fail then you will be our sacrifice at the End-of-Rotation Cycle Feast."

"I understand, Lord Theron."

"Do not fail me, young one."

She recognized her dismissal when she saw it, and turning strode for the door, leading her mentor and the High Lord from the room. Whereas most cultures had the underlings following their masters, the Crimson Brotherhood, this army of Sith, was different; the underlings went first so that if an assassin was waiting to strike it would be their lives lost. It also forced the underling to trust their lives to those above them, showing them just where their place really was.

She stretched out with the Force, hoping to sense whether it would be mere Republic explorers they'd be facing or if it'd be their millennia-old enemies, the foolish Jedi Knights, but as was usual with her home planet she did so to no avail; the Force Nexus of Termina was too powerful for her to penetrate...perhaps even too powerful for The One to cut through.

"We will head for the Jedi Enclave." High Lord Ares said, interrupting her thoughts. "Whether they're Republic officials or Jedi, that will likely be their target; it's the only thing on our planet that would interest them."

"We must be very careful here, Ares." Her mentor added. "The Jedi do not know we exist. This is in thanks to the lengths our Brotherhood goes to so that we remain hidden; using droids as our liaison with the Blue Moon mercenary organization and reprogramming them and their ships with invisible viruses and subroutines, and the like. We must allow no target to escape. If we do then the whole of the Jedi Order will descend upon us."

"What if there are more than three Jedi, Lady Vector?" She asked her mentor.

"Unlikely. Our intelligence shows that Jedi usually travel in teams of one or at most two; only the most pressing of their missions require more than this."

"And the Jedi are too caring to assign an apprentice to this planet, so if we face a Jedi it will only be one, likely a mere Knight." High Lord Ares added.

She refused to allow the disappointment manifest itself. How much honor, how much power, she would gain at being the first of the Brotherhood to kill a Jedi Knight almost made her dizzy; not even The One was known to have ever killed a Jedi before, at least, not following his exile on Termina. She wouldn't just be given a Sith name, she'd become a member of the Dark Council, and at the mere age of eleven to boot!

Of course, there was the matter of her orders, and she knew all too well that there was no excuse for failure, not even in self-defense. But, this was fine; there were plenty of ways to capture a Jedi, after all, and the same held true to earning a Sith name. She smiled. Soon Acolyte Eight Nine Three Seven would be something more...much more.

* * *

The young boy felt a moan escape his lips as he opened his eyes and slowly sat up, ignoring the pain that shot through his body as he did so. Where was he, he asked himself as the young one waited for his vision to clear. What had happened to him...who was he? Why was his head bleeding like a stuffed Gamorrean?

A small explosion tore through the rear of the ship, and immediately it all came flooding back to him. Kitch turned to his left as he freed himself of his crash-webbing, expecting to see the Jedi Knight Lor Kavar doing the same. However, to his dismay, the woman was still unmoving, knocked unconscious by the impact of the crash landing on this allegedly uninhabited planet.

He reached under the co-pilot's seat of the stricken Republic Cruiser and withdrew the survival pack he'd packed before his departure from the capital, and climbing to his feet he jumped over to his fellow Jedi, bent down, and pulled her survival pack free as well. He then placed them both on the console in front of him and prepared to begin rendering first aid to Master Kavar, but a damaged-yet-blinking light caught his eyes, and after studying it for only a moment he knew what it meant; the ship's reactor was going critical...in moments it'd become a miniature star. He had to move, and fast.

He grappled with the crash-webbing as he tried to free her, but this was done for nothing; the restraints were hopelessly stuck, likely damaged during their landing. He sighed as he unclipped the hilt of his lightsaber; there was only one thing he could do now.

_Snap-hiss._

The emerald blade sprang to life, effortlessly cutting the crash-webbing free of Lor's body, and turning slightly Kitch brought his blade slicing through the cockpit's view port, which had somehow survived the crash; the shattering glass fell everywhere, but he ignored it as he cut his lightsaber off and placed it back on his waist.

After grabbing both survival packs and throwing them out onto the ground below Kitch then turned and grabbed Lor Kavar's hands, positioning himself so that, with aid from the Force, he could lift her onto his shoulders.

His knees buckled and his body struggled with the strain this put on him, but he ignored it and moved forward, again calling on assistance from the Force as he leapt onto the consoles and then jumped down onto Termina's solid, warm surface.

He moved as quickly as possible, not stopping until he bent down moments later to gently lie the Jedi Knight on the ground, allowing him to stand erect once more and turn to look at the crashed cruiser, which was belching smoke from its aft section...and then he realized he still had work to do.

He charged forward, not fully understanding why he was running back into the death-trap that had been, moments before, the Republic cruiser _Challenger_. However, like the Jedi Apprentice he was, he trusted in the Force, and the Force was telling him he had to go back in.

The sound of broken glass crunched under his boot, and looking down to regard it he noticed a silver cylinder, displaced from its owner during the crash; not bothering to bend over Kitch retrieved the lightsaber with a summon of the Force and immediately hooked it to the other side of his waist, opposite of his own weapon; now he was balanced, he thought with amusement as he moved forward through the ship once more.

Fires raged unchecked throughout the ship, and when he entered the Communications Relay he thought he'd have to turn back; there was a wall of nearly-impregnable fire across from him, which was where he had been heading...until he remembered something.

_"Should you survive without me, I want you to continue our mission and avoid detection; within a week the Council will send a search party for us..."_

But he'd have no method of communication, and they'd be unable to sense him through the Force...how would they know where to find him? He asked himself this same question again, and was preparing to do so again when the answer suddenly exploded in his mind.

The Jedi Beacon!

All Republic transports carried a beacon that emitted a homing signal, a signal that could only be picked up on Jedi and Republic frequencies! Kitch rushed forward, punching in the keystrokes on the main terminal that would force the console to open up and reveal the hidden beacon, which he quickly grabbed and secured in his robes.

Not stopping to think Kitch instead relied on the Force as another explosion, this one much closer, rocked the ship. He charged forward, the Force wrapping around him like a cloak as he jumped through that solid wall of fire, and not stopping he surged forward into the hanger bay, where his eyes suddenly fell on the lone speeder bike, a simple yet effective Republic design...and he already knew how to get it out of the doomed ship too.

He moved forward to the bent and buckled bay doors, unclipping Lor's lightsaber as he moved, and the moment he reached the door he activated her blade and plunged it through the metal.

In only two minutes he'd cut a large enough hole in the doors for the bike to zoom out safely, and mounting his new ride, the young Jedi did just that.

Blood still flowing down his face and the world around him beginning to spin, the young Jedi apprentice ignited the bike's engines and shot forward from the cruiser, using his Jedi reflexes to make the impossibly sharp turn to the right and zoom passed the ship to where Lor Kavar still lie motionless on the ground.

As the speeder bike stopped he jumped off, quickly setting about getting them clear of the coming blast. He hoisted one of the packs over his back, pulled a small, flexible cable free of Lor's pack and fixed that second pack to her back, and then hoisted the injured, bloody Jedi onto the back of the bike, jumping up in front of her and catching her before she could fall off. He pulled her hands around his waist and tied the cable around her wrists like a pair of makeshift Stun-Cuffs, making sure she'd not fall off while the speeder bike was moving.

Igniting the engine once more the bike shot forward, away from the ship...sixty-two seconds later a massive explosion rocked the entire area, but Kitch did not look back at the growing flames and billowing smoke. He was a Jedi, and until he could revive Lor Kavar it was up to him to keep them alive, no matter what might happen.

"We may be down, Master Kavar," Kitch said grimly. "But we are definitely not out."

* * *

**And there you have Chapter Five!**

**Also, some of you may notice that Kitch Veila is now Kitch Surik...yes, I did change his name to the name of a well-known Jedi Knight, so see if you can try to guess who it is within the next few chapters, before I reveal it. And, before anyone says anything, I did go back through the first four chapter and changed his last name there, as well.**

**Now, proceed to Chapter Six...**


	6. Trapped

**Here's the second chapter for today...Chapter Six! As usual, _Disney _owns _Star Wars_, not me. Now, on with the show!**

* * *

**ADDITIONAL STORIES BY **Guardian Kitch**:**

_**Star Wars: Jedi Wasteland (Star Wars/Star Wars: The Clone Wars)**_

_**Teen Titans: The Approaching Storm (Teen Titans/Star Wars)**_

_**Gates of Terabithia (Bridge to Terabithia)**_

_**Bridge to Terabithia II: Return of the Queen (Bridge to Terabithia)**_

_**Sins of the Father (Harry Potter)**_

_**Harry Potter and the Labyrinth of Evil (Harry Potter)**_

* * *

_**Chapter Six: Trapped**_

{**Location: **Termina, Tingle Arm, Beyond the Outer Rim Territories}

An ancient ship with a most decorated history, the _Dynamic_-class freighter known better as the _Ebon Hawk _emerged from hyperspace above the lone, forgotten giant known primarily as Termina.

In the cockpit of the modernized ship sat four figures, each of them staring ahead at the planet with mixed feelings.

"This place is strong in the Force." Arianna Surik supplied, taking the ship in hard towards the planet's atmosphere. "It's almost as though the entire planet's a Force Nexus, both an amplifier _and_ a suppressor."

"I sense it too." Her husband responded, monitoring the instruments before him. "I'm picking up massive life-form readings, and Termina hosts every environment and climate condition in existence...it's an incredibly rare planet."

"I sense the Dark Side." The burnt-skinned youth sitting directly behind Arianna supplied. "It's barely there, but I _can _sense it."

"Please." Waylon replied. "Everything's the Dark Side with you, Duran."

The fourth (and largest) member of the group, the massive female Wookie known as Hawya, let out a series of barks and roars, which Arianna immediately interpreted.

"I doubt it, Hawya." She answered as they began their descent through Termina's atmosphere. "The Sith have been extinct for well over a thousand years now...if there are any Dark Side practitioners on this planet they'll likely be weak adepts who believe themselves to be worthy of the title Dark Lord of the Sith."

Another series of barks.

"Yes," Arianna agreed. "I would say a Sith would be the ultimate challenge for your lightsaber skills, but that's unlikely to happen any time soon."

"Sorry, Hawya." Waylon concluded. "You'll just have to be content with dueling the occasional Force adept or wayward Jedi."

The Wookie snorted as Duran picked up the conversation.

"Please," He laughed. "I could be a Dark Lord if I wanted to."

"Yeah, okay kid." Waylon told the fifteen-year old boy. "If you say so."

"I _do _say so." He said defensively.

"Then why don't you?" Arianna asked as continued to pilot the ship further into the lower atmosphere.

"Because, it'd be too boring being the most dominant force in galactic history."

"He's got a lot of arrogance for a Jedi Padawan." Waylon laughed. They had met the teen only a month before, during a mission to the planet of Dantooine. He and his master, the Twi'lek Jedi Knight Ryn Dedunca, had been assigned to investigate reports of a growing Mandalorian army. During the assignment they had been discovered and his master captured. Duran had then organized some of the local militias, leading them in an attack designed to rescue the captive Jedi Knight. While the bulk of the Dantooine farmers had engaged the mercenary army, Duran had snuck into the camp and located his master, preparing to free the Jedi Knight.

This, however, was not meant to be. The leader of the Mandalorians had anticipated this very strategy and as such had set a trio of elite commando squads, each squad composed of five men, to guard the Jedi...Duran had, for all of his power and strength, been unable to defeat them, and with no other options available to him he had withdrawn, fleeing to devise a new strategy.

Days after his failed rescue attempt the Knight Fleet, having learned of the plight of the Dantooine farmers, had arrived, launching a massive orbital bombardment from space that destroyed sixty-percent of all Mandalorian forces. Arianna and Waylon had then led Hawya and three other Unorthodox Jedi down to the surface to assist the battered militias in ending the conflict once and for all, and this had been their first meeting with an angry, borderline-psychotic Duran Detreo, who was beside himself with anger. The Jedi Council, he'd informed them, had refused to send additional Jedi, stating it was too risky to allow any more of their numbers to be trapped on the planet; after all, they'd reasoned, the Mandalorians had air superiority at the time.

During the final assault two weeks ago on the headquarters of the Mandalorian forces, the same compound in which the Jedi Knight was being held hostage, the Mandalorians, sensing the impending defeat, had set the building in which the Twi'lek Jedi was being held to explode, and before Duran could get there the explosives had detonated. His master's death had infuriated Duran so much that he'd gone into a battle frenzy, killing anyone within reach of his blades until finally, at long last, there was no one standing.

Waylon and Arianna had been able to call him back from the Dark Side, calming him down after a prolonged fight and forcing him to see things in their true light, and while he still felt anger at being abandoned by the Jedi Order he also knew that, in the end, Master Windu had been right; it would have been too risky to send in additional Jedi

And so his anger, hatred, and resentment had turned to determination. He had, during the battle, discovered a money trail that led to a retired banker on Sernpidal, and, deciding that the best way to finish his mission would be by uncovering the truth of who had funded the mercenaries on Dantooine and why, he had accompanied the Knight Fleet to Sernpidal, where they dropped him off before continuing on to Mytus VII with the promise that, once he and Hawya were done they'd return in person to retrieve him and take him back to Coruscant. However, upon hearing of their new mission he had decided to go with them, claiming that he'd sensed, somehow, that he might be needed.

Secretly, though, Arianna wondered now if that was such a wise decision. The Vryn Padawan was right; she could sense the Dark Side of the Force here, buried deep and so faint one might miss it. Duran had narrowly returned from the Dark Side once before...would he be strong enough to do it again?

She caught her husband's eyes and immediately she knew he could sense what she was feeling, and his gaze was all she needed to silence those thoughts. The teenager might have a natural affinity with the Dark Side, and he might have embraced it once, but he _had _returned, and she knew firsthand the kind of strength that took. She knew Duran was not, by any means, stupid, just as she knew he had grown and learned from his experience, as any Jedi should. He would, she suspected, do just fine.

"This is weird." Waylon said suddenly, bringing her from her thoughts. "There's a thin column of smoke on the planet's night side, but it appears to be too weak or small to be a wildfire, especially with the thunderstorm in that region."

"Let's check it out then." Arianna answered, moving towards the new coordinates her husband was giving her. "Better keep low, just to be safe."

"I'm bringing the deflector shields online now." Waylon added.

"Want me to take the upper turret?" Duran asked, failing to keep the hint of longing from his voice.

"Sit tight." Waylon answered. "The radar's clear at the moment." He added as they approached the smoke.

"It looks to be a wreck of some kind." Arianna said, gaining a visual of the source of the small fire. "There, look at the markings on that hull fragment-"

"Galactic Republic Judicial markings." Duran finished, obviously recognizing the markings immediately. "And this debris is fresh t-"

"I've got energy readings off the chart!" Waylon shouted. "We're being tracked, and we have enemy fighter inbound on our position; ETA is three minutes."

"About damn time." Duran murmured. "I was beginning to get bored-"

"We're not going to fight." Arianna cut off, already formulating a backup plan in her mind. "Even if we evade fire and destroy the enemy fighters they'll know we're here. The _Ebon Hawk _is going to return to the fleet."

"What about the Kasumi child?" Waylon asked as Arianna made a steep climb, narrowly avoiding enemy ground-based laser fire.

"We're going after her."

"But you just said-"

"Corporal Xan." Arianna cut off, depressing the comm unit's activation button as she mentioned the name of their chief medical officer, the final member of the _Hawk_'s current crew. "I need you in the cockpit, immediately."

"Honey, perhaps you should explain-"

"Waylon, you and Duran will come with me to the starboard escape pod while Hawya will go to the port pod...we'll jettison into the lake below and while those fighters follow the _Hawk _out we'll swim to shore and go from there. Everyone grab the survival pack from under your seat."

"Ma'am, you called?" A female voice asked as Arianna followed her own order, and turning to regard the female Zabrak she quickly outlined her plan once more.

"I have the hyperspace coordinates uploading to the navicomputer as we speak. Once we've launched into the lake make your way into space...the moment you're free of the planet's mass shadow make the jump to lightspeed. Inform Major Boslet that we'll signal for evac once we have the girl."

"Aye, ma'am."

"Move, now!" Arianna shouted, and immediately the group exploded into motion. Arianna led her squad out of the cockpit and down the narrow corridor, passed the empty Communications Center, and into the large, empty Briefing Cabin. She, along with her husband and Duran, made a left while the Wookie made a right.

Not slowing down the trio passed the exit ramp and continued on to the end of the corridor, where the starboard dormitory, a series of six bunks, sat off to their left. Arianna, however, activated a console in front of her, and a door to her right opened up, allowing them instant access to the Starboard Escape Pod, a feature that had not been originally incorporated into the ship's design but one Waylon had insisted they add.

_"Commodore," _ Xan's voice said over the intercom. _"We're over the lake; you must launch _now!"

"Copy that." Arianna answered, doing just that.

_"May the Force be with you all." _She finished as the outer hatch shut, and with a small explosion the escape pod was free, falling uncontrolled into the water below them.

The moment their escape pod touched the water's surface Waylon opened the escape hatch, and as water quickly flooded in the trio swam out, racing for the surface.

Arianna gasped for air as she brushed her wet hair out of her face, looking up as the _Ebon Hawk _rocketed towards space, leaving them behind.

"Come on you guys," She said as Hawya joined them, her fur wet and shiny in the cloudy moonlight. "Let's get to shore now, before we're spotted."

The group swam together in a lose formation towards the shore where the wrecked remains of the Republic ship still smoldered, the flames looking as though they may now be at the end of their life.

"Looks like the Republic pilots need more training." Duran muttered, the first to pull himself out of the cold water.

"Think there were any Jedi aboard?" Waylon asked, following behind the orphaned Padawan.

"I doubt it." He boasted. "A Jedi Knight wouldn't have crash-landed their cruiser; we're too good of pilots to do that."

"I don't see any bodies." Arianna added, now inspecting what was left of the downed ship. "Of course, when the reactors blew the fire might well have been so hot it incinerated the crew."

"How do you know the reactors blew?" Duran asked. "Who's to say that the ship didn't take so much fire it simply exploded upon impact?"

"Because." Arianna responded. "I recognize this ship's design...it's one of the new _Consular_-class cruisers, used chiefly by the Galactic Republic for diplomatic missions. I've tried asking the Senate to sell me some of them but they refused." She added the last part with a growl, as though she felt the Senate's decision was wrong. "The reactors would be near the rear of the ship, and that's where the blast crater looks to be located."

"Let's assume for the moment and the sake of argument that at least one member of the ship's crew did survive; what would be their mission here to a planet that, officially, has received no visitors for thousands of years?"

Hawya let out a series of grunts, to which Arianna agreed with a nod of her head.

"She's right." The woman said, pulling a small holoprojector from her robes and activating the device.

"What'd she say?" Duran asked.

"Here." She said as the small map came up. "There's an ancient Jedi Enclave, about twenty, twenty-five klicks to the north, in that direction." Arianna explained, pointing towards what had once been the bow of the Republic cruiser. "If we move on through night and onwards without stopping, we might make it there no later than noon tomorrow local time."

"A Jedi Enclave?" Duran scoffed. "The Order's not held any enclaves since the last war with the Sith-"

"Hence the word _'ancient'._" Arianna explained. "As far as I can tell, it's one of only two buildings left standing."

"What's the second?" Waylon asked.

"This massive temple, about forty kilometers to the west." She again explained, zooming on said building. "It looks to be very well maintained for a building that's been abandoned for a thousand years, and it looks to be the source of the ground fire we took coming in."

"We'll need to neutralize that if we expect anyone to come in and get us out." Waylon said, studying the image carefully.

"Or we could say to the stars with it." Duran countered. "We sneak in, find the girl, get her out, and call the fleet in to slag it to the ground. Short, sweet, and to the point."

"No." Arianna declined. "We don't know for sure what kind of defenses they have, or if those fighters we encountered are all that makes up their fleet. We'll make our way to the abandoned enclave and link up with any Republic forces still on the ground."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Waylon asked cautiously. "We're technically considered renegades and outlaws by the Galactic Senate."

"Perhaps." His wife conceded. "But they were shot down just like us...they ought to be intelligent enough to realize working together would be better than them trying to do anything stupid like arrest us."

"And if there are no survivors of this crash?" He asked.

"The we follow this river." She said, widening out the map once more. "It flows just passed the enclave and all the way down to the massive temple on its way to empty into the closest sea."

"You reckon they'll be expecting us?" Duran asked with a bored yawn.

"I doubt it." Arianna explained. "If they saw us escape the _Hawk _then they'd already be burning this entire forest with strafing runs."

There was a loud, powerful clash of thunder high above their heads, followed closely by a brilliant flash of lightning...immediately all four of the survivors pulled their cloak hoods over their heads.

"Let's get moving." Waylon said as Arianna shut off the holoprojector and stowed back into her robes. "We've got quite a ways to go ahead of us, and some hostile-looking terrain on the other side of this forest that will make getting to the enclave more challenging."

And with Duran and Hawya following behind them Arianna and Waylon led the way as large drops of rain began to pelt the ground.

The young Vryn Jedi, however, paid it no mind. He hated rain, oh yes, as much as he hated the cold, but someone had attacked them, someone on a planet supposedly abandoned for centuries, perhaps even millennia...someone was going to meet his lightsabers sometime very soon.

* * *

{**Location: **Spaceport, Volcosis, capital city of Volcam One, Inner Core}

Pax could not believe his eyes as he walked out of the spaceport and into the capital city beyond. He had known that there would be a stark difference between this planet and its close neighbor of Hydia, this had gone without saying even before he had landed. Volcam One was a poor planet, indebted a great deal to the much wealthier Hydians, but this...Pax shuddered: this was beyond poor.

Volcam One was extremely close to the system's primary, a massive, young fiery star far larger and hotter than most stars of its age. The planet's surface was so hot that environmental survival suits were needed for any non-Vryn citizens or visitors who wanted to go beyond the survival zones like the one in which the capital city was enclosed. The native Vryn, on the other hand, were well adapted for life on such a hot planet. Their skin, as Pax had read, was thrice as thick as a human's and their body's core temperature was also much higher. Their eyes sported a thick, invisible membrane that protected them from UV rays and the extreme heat, and because of their bodies' core temperature overheating was never a problem.

The young Padawan moved forward slowly, studying carefully his surroundings. Most of the buildings he could see were crumbling and abandoned, the vendors set up instead in makeshift survival tents, temporary structures that had likely been there longer than the Vryn owners themselves.

Adding to the illusion of poverty were the ragged, filthy clothes worn by the scores of Vryn citizens, clothes that were either too large or too small for those wearing them, and everyone Pax set eyes on appeared to be too underfed. He sighed again as he stretched out with the Force; this was such a vast difference from Hydia...how could any government, how could any _people_, be so poor?

"Offworlder, eh?" A raspy voice asked off to Pax's right, causing him to stop and vector towards the voice's source instead.

"Hmm...yes, not Hydian and clearly not Vryn either." She continued as Pax approached. "That's a Jedi lightsaber, that is. Dare I ask what brings a Jedi Knight to our beautiful planet?"

"I am looking for this man." Pax said, pulling a holopad from his utility belt and activating the device. While he had been with the Klevs clan at their spaceport in the Orange Moon District they had managed to pull security footage, getting a clear shot of one of the many beings who had been with the Senior Princess, a picture they had then downloaded to an old, repaired holoprojector so that Pax could take the image with him to Volcam One and track the man down.

"I've seen him, yes; not so long ago." She answered as Pax picked up a piece of fruit, the Volcam-exclusive Molten Orange fruit, and began inspecting it.

"Might I inquire into what he wanted?"

"The fool tried to steal the day's earnings, as much as they are." She spat.

"Do you have intelligence on his current location?" Pax asked, eyeing the price of the fruit.

"Of course I do." The woman answered. "That's him right there." She said, pointing over Pax's shoulder, causing the young Jedi to turn around and look...sure enough the man he was looking for was hard at work trying to swindle another of the impoverished vendors.

"I am much obliged for your assistance, my lady." Pax responded, digging out double the number of credits required to pay for the fruit. "And for the fruit as well." He added, putting the small fruit into one of the pouches an empty pouch on his belt.

Without waiting for the woman's reply Pax turned once more and took off for his target, unclipping his lightsaber as he moved.

"Hey, you!" Pax shouted, igniting his lightsaber's blade. The male human turned and after a mere glance of the oncoming Jedi he took off running, and, using the Force to boost his movement, Pax took off after him, wishing now more than ever that he'd had the thought to study the capital's map. Pax stopped short of cursing; how could he have been so stupid? What would Kitch say if he were here now?

As Pax rounded a corner he stopped to think for a moment on his life-long friend, the boy who was now as good as a brother to him. Had he enjoyed his day free of studies? How was he taking to his studies now that Pax was no longer at his side? Did he worry for his friend? Did he feel envious? Did he feel sad? Abandoned and alone?

Pax Onasi quickly shook those thoughts free from his head. He and Kitch were both Jedi, and they had always known the day would come when their paths would separate, and while they both felt saddened he knew Kitch would let go of the attachment that came with their friendship, just as he knew they would both always trust in not just each other but the Force itself. Pax suddenly smiled in spite of himself, even as he dodged a blaster bolt aimed in haste by his fleeing target. Kitch would enjoy the Molten Orange Pax had just bought him, a spicy-sweet fruit that would never go bad so long as it was kept warm enough.

Another blaster bolt forced Pax to return his mind to the present as he continued his pursuit of the only lead he currently had in the case of the missing Senior Princess of Hydia. As the deadly shot zoomed passed the Jedi's head the target stopped long enough to grab a large stand of fruit and pull it down, forcing Pax to somersault over the slippery food as he continued on after the man.

"On the authority of the Jedi Council I demand you halt, immediately!" Pax shouted again, though he already knew that this would likely do nothing to stop the man. The only way, he suspected, that he could stop this human would be to Force him to stop.

Up ahead Pax noticed a small, empty handcart, and not bothering to slow down, the Padawan reached out in the Force, gently nudging the cart so that it moved just a couple of inches: the man went stumbling to the ground as his feet caught on the cart's handles, allowing Pax all the time he needed

As Pax closed in, however, the man jumped back to his feet, blood now dripping from his mouth, and turned, rushing off into a narrow alley off to the left...Pax never slowed down as he too took off down the alley.

As Pax ran he noticed a small, dirty rock on the ground just in front of, and with another surge in the Force he'd called the object to his right hand as he switched his lightsaber over to his left hand.

"This constitutes as your third and final warning, sir: halt immediately!"

If it were possible, the man sped up, and with a sigh Pax took aim, and with guidance from the Force he threw the rock, which, three seconds later, blasted into the back of the man's right knee, sending him stumbling into a wall before he could make another turn. This time Pax did not let him get away.

The suspect spun around, making to take aim with his pistol once more, but before he got the chance to fire Pax had brought the pommel of his lightsaber down on the arm's wrist, forcing the blaster to fall freely to the ground, and reversing his grip Pax then brought the saber's blade up to the man's chin.

"I requested that you halt, sir, not run." Pax explained. "When a Jedi makes such a request it is usually most wise to accept."

"I diddn do nufink." The man slurred. "Lemme go!"

"Not until you answer my inquiries." Pax answered. "I have security footage of you accompanying the Senior Princess of Hydia out of the capital; where did you take her?"

"Why's it any o' yur busy-ness?"

"Because, sir, the Senior Princess has been abducted, and as a Jedi I have been commissioned to locate her."

"I dunno nufink, now lemme go!"

"Sir, I really do not see the reason you insist on continuing to feed me false fabrications."

"Huh?"

"I kindly request the truth, not lies." Pax explained. "I must inform you that if you fail to cooperate with my investigation I am authorized to place you under arrest."

"I diddn do nufink!"

"Very well, sir, you leave me, sadly, no choice." Pax said, and as he went silent he began to focus on the man's mind, using the Force to penetrate the drunkard's brain: almost immediately he could read the man like the texts Kitch was so accustomed to in the Jedi Archives.

He had never been off of Hydia before, Pax learned. He had been born into poverty, his mother having died giving birth to him. His father had been an abusive drunkard, landing himself in prison when this poor fool had only been five, and under Hydian laws the debt of his family had fallen to him, forcing him to become a thief and con-artist.

Pax felt an immediate twinge of regret and sorrow for this man, this poor soul who'd never even been given a chance.

There was something else there, though, something brighter than the man's past...it was, Pax suddenly realized, his future. This man did have high hopes for the future, as though he knew something...

"You will," Pax began, focusing as hard as he could. "Tell me what you did with the Senior Princess of Hydia."

"I will tell you what I did wif da Senior Princess o'-"

"Hands up, Jedi." A mechanically-filtered voice ordered, and before Pax could react he felt the warm barrel of a blaster pistol pushed up to the back of his skull. Unwilling to risk making the wrong move, Pax raised his hands, the lightsaber still active and now in his right hand.

"Shut your glowing stick off, now." The voice ordered, and following those orders Pax shut his lightsaber off.

"Drop it to the ground, now!"

Again Pax did as he was told.

"Now keep your hands up and turn around, slowly!"

As ordered, Pax slowly turned around until he was face-to-face with a short, petite figure holding a dirty, massive blaster pistol in her hands. How the young Jedi knew it was a woman he didn't really know, only that, even through the thick suit of armor and tunics, her figure was not that of a human male.

"What are you doing here, Jedi?"

"As I informed your companion here, I have been commissioned to locate the abducted Senior Princess of Hydia. I have tracked her here to Volcosis, capital city of Volcam One."

"There are some questions to which you don't want the answers." She said slyly. "Do you know what happens when you get too close to a terrible truth?"

"You get too close to a terrible answer." Pax answered.

"I suppose the only question now is whether I kill you here or take you to headquarters and kill you there."

"I feel obliged to advise you against such a course of action: there is a second Knight of the Jedi on the planet Hydia. If you murder me then the whole of the Jedi Order will come after you."

"And you think that'll scare me?"

"I sense your fear." Pax answered. "You will not kill me, you are too smart to do this; you are afraid of what would happen if you murder me, just as you are afraid of what will happen if you allow me to go free."

"Fine." She said. "We'll take you back to headquarters, let you meet the boss."

"Dat ain't a smarty move-"

"Shut it Worm." She cut off. "You've already cost us more trouble than you're worth: you're lucky I don't vap you where you stand." She pulled a medical needle from her black enviro-suit. "I'm injecting you with a sedative; it will knock you out for one standard hour. When you wake up you will be at our headquarters. I promise you'll not be harmed until you wake up, though after that it is out of my hands."

For a moment Pax considered whether or not he should allow this, but almost immediately he decided for it. He knew he could fight his way free, but then he'd be no closer than he had been on Hydia. By doing this, he knew, he could end up at the slavers' headquarters, perhaps even in the same cell as the Senior Princess. On the other hand, if he waited until he was at their headquarters to make his move, he would have many more enemies to face than he did now.

He felt the needle puncture his tunic's sleeve and then pierce his skin, and as the world began spinning he could only watch as his captor stood there, unmoving...and then the young Padawan's world went black.

* * *

{**Location: **Termina, Tingle Arm, Beyond the Outer Rim Territories}

His head now sporting layers of bacta-soaked bandages taken from his survival kit, Kitch watched from the cave entrance as the thunderstorm raged on. He had found the cave beyond the forest in which the _Challenger _had crashed, at the edge of a massive canyon that would lead them directly to the ruins of the Jedi Enclave.

He had wanted to push onwards to the ruins, but at the signs of the oncoming storm he'd reconsidered that choice, deciding it would be best to take cover and wait the weather system out.

After finding the cave and making sure they were safe inside he'd then tended to the fallen Knight's injuries as best he could, recalling his lessons in field triage and first aid. He'd then constructed a simple campfire to keep them warm, and after eating a small, tasteless rations bar to replace the burned calories and nutrition in his body he'd taken to standing guard at the entrance of the cave while the unconscious Jedi Knight rested on the floor of the cave near the campfire as comfortably as Kitch had been able to make it.

His whole body ached, and he was so tired he wanted so badly to just lie down and go to sleep, but he also knew this was not a wise idea. They still had no idea who'd shot them down, and if those people had investigated the crash site they'd know the survivors had escaped and would be looking for them; if he went to sleep and those people happened to find them they'd never have any warning until it was too late, not when the Force was of so little help in sensing others nearby.

For one moment he allowed himself to wish he was back at the Jedi Temple, to wish that he had been allowed to take advantage of his day free from studies and immerse himself fully in the most advanced knowledge in galactic existence. However, he only allowed himself one single moment more before quelling those feelings: he had already learned a great deal on this trip, and thanks to Master Kavar he knew his performances in his lightsaber classes would improve, and whether or not he would be more comfortable back on the capital was smut: he was here now, and his mind, he admonished himself, should remain there on the task at hand, not on mere wishes.

As he sat there, staring up at the beautiful, stormy night he allowed himself to think on his best friend, his brother, Pax Onasi, and where the young Padawan was now. Had he had fun on his first assignment, had he already found the missing Hydian princess and returned the Temple, ready to tell of his adventure only to find Kitch too had been given an assignment offworld? Did Pax miss him, did the Padawan think about him any?

Again Kitch forced these thoughts out of his mind. Of course, he told himself, Pax would think about him and miss him; they were brothers, after all, if not through blood then through friendship. However, they were both Jedi, and through it all they would both do their duty, forsaking attachment to protect the galaxy. Allowing themselves to linger on these thoughts would do nothing to help them complete their missions, and it could even prove to be a dangerous, lethal distraction.

"Did anyone get the registration number of whatever it was that hit me?" A woman's voice mumbled, and instantly Kitch found himself dashing to the back of the cave, bending over to help Lor sit up correctly. "And what are we doing on a children's ride?"

"Children's ride, Master Kavar?"

"I'm dizzy." She simplified with a growl. "How long have I been out?"

"Several hours." Kitch explained.

"Sit-rep, now."

"The _Challenger _took too much damage in the crash; the reactors went critical."

"Were you able to save anything?"

"Two survival packs, three lightsabers, one Jedi Beacon, one speeder bike, and two lousy, beat-up Jedi." He answered, unable to keep from joking.

"Thorough report." She complimented. "Where are we at now?"

"In a cave."

"Funny. How close to the ruins are we?"

"Not far. We're in the canyon between the forest where we crashed and the Jedi ruins. Shouldn't be but a couple of minutes on the bike."

"Let's get going then."

Kitch opened his mouth to speak, but no sooner had his mouth opened than a deafening clash of thunder stopped him cold in his tracks.

"Good point; wait it is." She muttered, taking the ration pack he offered her. "How did we make it out of the _Challenger_before it went nova?"

Kitch then delved into the story of their escape from the _Challenger_, including his use of their lightsabers to free them from the downed cruiser, and once he was done she gave her head a soft nod.

"Master Kavar," He continued. "I believe our mission has changed."

"How so?"

"Even if we find what we're looking for, the ancient texts and whatnot, we still have to wait for the Council to miss us and send someone else to investigate."

"And?"

"When they arrive they, too, will be fired upon and likely shot down; we need to make sure that those fighters and anti-fighter defenses are taken out of action before then, perhaps even find those responsible and arrest them."

Lor nodded her head once more. "I think you're right, Apprentice Surik." She sighed then. "I just hope it's that easy."

"With all due respect, Master Kavar, I believe whether or not it's easy is irrelevant; easy or difficult we _are _Jedi, and we _will _do our duty."

Lor smiled. "I like your style of thinking, kid." She said, forcing herself to her feet. "Now, _you _get some rest while I take over guard duty."

"With all due respect, Master Kavar, I don't feel you're ready-"

"I'll be the judge of whether or not I'm ready for sentry duty." She corrected, swaying briefly before forcing herself to steady. "You, I think, have done enough for one day. Now, get some rest, before I inject you with a sedative."

"Of course, Master Kavar."

"AND BLAST IT! STOP CALLING ME _'MASTER'_!"

"As you wish, Master Kavar." Kitch said slyly, lying down in his own sleeping gear, one of the multiple useful items taken from his survival pack.

Once she was at the front of the cave she turned and glanced at the apprentice that had been assigned to her, unable to help the smile forming on her face at the young Jedi who was already asleep.

She had been furious when Jocasta Nu had assigned him to join her on Termina, taking it as a personal insult that the Order's Chief Librarian and Grand Master didn't believe her of being capable of returning the Jedi texts and data to Coruscant in one piece. She was, after all, a Jedi Knight, not a babysitter. She was going on a mission to a planet known to have deadly predators and extreme climate, not the place for a Temple virgin on his first mission.

And yet, now, days after that had happened, she found herself relieved to have the young Padawan with her. Had it not been for him she would be one with the Force now, and that fact wasn't escaping her memory any time soon. She couldn't help but be impressed by the boy, either. His skills had vastly improved during their journey across the galaxy, and he knew his place, he knew his duty, and he'd yet to shirk away from either. She had no doubt that, when the boy found the Master perfect for him, Kitch Surik would make a hell of a Learner. She suddenly found herself recalling her last conversation with Master Yoda, the night before she and Kitch had left.

_"A dangerous mission, this will be, even for a Jedi Knight. Perhaps an apprentice, you should take...a fine Padawan, our young Apprentice Surik would make you, hmmm?"_

_"Force no!" _Lor had answered, taken aback by his suggestion. _"Master Yoda, I've only been a Jedi Knight for a few months, if that; I'm not ready to train an apprentice! Besides, the boy's only, what, ten?"_

_ "Eleven." _Yoda had corrected. _"And age matters not."_

_ "With all due respect, Master Yoda, to both you and Apprentice Surik, I've heard stories about the boy."_

_ "Trust all rumors, you should not, young one."_

_ "Master Drallig recently told me that the boy has never even activated his training saber, to the point that it costs him in training."_

_ "Dedicated to Form Zero, the boy is."_

_ "Perhaps too dedicated. Don't get me wrong, Master Yoda, I know the Jedi who dedicate themselves to this form are intimate with the knowledge of when to draw their blades and when not to, but the kid seems to have only gotten the last half of that right."_

Yoda had nodded his head. _"Much to learn, the child still has, yes, and who better to teach him, Jedi Kavar?"_

_ "Master, if I took an apprentice it would be one I would be able to trust in combat or in dangerous situations like what I'll be in on Termina, not a Padawan I'd have to protect in addition to myself."_

_ "Surprise you, young Surik can, if given the chance he is. Intimate, he is, with the knowledge found within our Archives. Expect him to one day surpass her, Madame Jocasta does."_

_ "That's fine and all, Master Yoda, and if the boy succeeds then I would be extremely proud of him, but even if I were ready to take on a Padawan it would not be Kitch Surik, especially on a mission like this."_

_ "Much to learn, Jedi Kavar, you still have." _Yoda had chuckled as he slid off of the log-turned-seat. _"And learn this lesson, you will." _

Lor continued to replay the conversation in her mind. Yoda was the Grand Master of the Jedi Order, the strongest and wisest of their numbers. However, for all of his wisdom and power, in spite of his deep connection to and understanding of the Force, he had the most peculiar talent of astonishing, confounding, and generally stunning his younger Jedi (as well as some of the older ones), and now, wounded and taking shelter in a cave near the Jedi Enclave ruins on Termina, accompanied by the apprentice she'd refused, Lor couldn't help but wonder if perhaps the Jedi Master had, in secret, foreseen what would happen to her on Termina.

_"Surprise you, young Surik can, if given the chance he is..." _The small, green Jedi had told her, a sentence that she could no longer dispute. The child, against all odds, had done just that: he'd seized the chance and he'd both surprised and impressed her.

_"A dangerous mission, this will be, even for a Jedi Knight. Perhaps an apprentice, you should take...a fine Padawan, our young Apprentice Surik would make you, hmmm?"_

Lor shook her head furiously as though answering Yoda once more. "No, Master Yoda, I will not take him as my Padawan. I'm not ready, and he's not the right apprentice for me."

Sitting down the Jedi Knight crossed her legs and closed her eyes, deciding that meditation was what she needed at the moment. She was facing a dangerous situation, one that had all the potential to explode into an uncontrollable galactic-changing event; she needed her mind to be completely clear.

The Force, however, was incredibly complex at the moment, more so than she had ever felt. It was like a giant orb of water, with a small trace of black ink swirling around in it...this, she knew, was the Dark Side. She doubted the young apprentice could sense it; after all, he'd never encountered the Dark Side before. _She_, however, had, and while it was faint, barely there, she knew it _was _there, just as she knew she'd only touched the surface of that vast power.

* * *

**And thus ends Chapter Six! So, let me know what ya'll think, and the next chapter (or two) should be up in a few days. And yes, gentlemen and ladies, I'M BACK!**

**Oh, and just curious, but have you found out anything about the name?**


	7. Call of Duty

**Well, here we are...Chapter Seven is up, and, to say thanks for reading, it's the longest chapter this story has yet seen. **

**As usual, _Star Wars _belongs to Disney (still feels wierd typing that), not to me. Now, on with the show!**

* * *

**ADDITIONAL STORIES BY**Guardian Kitch**:**

_**Star Wars: Jedi Wasteland (Star Wars/Star Wars: The Clone Wars)**_

_**Teen Titans: The Approaching Storm (Teen Titans/Star Wars)**_

_**Gates of Terabithia (Bridge to Terabithia)**_

_**Sins of the Father (Harry Potter)**_

_**Harry Potter and the Labyrinth of Evil (Harry Potter)**_

* * *

_**Chapter Seven: Call of Duty**_

{**Location:** Crown Jewel District, Hydia, Inner Core}

The young woman sitting across from the table amazed the young Jedi Knight. Even now, at the age of twenty-six years old, when he'd traveled the galaxy and seen so much, the woman amazed him. She had been assaulted and beaten, she had lost the one role in life she'd been used to, and yet, even now, she was acting like a proper lady raised in the Royal Court of the Hydian Crown. She ate the gourmet soup in a dignified manner, hiding her bruises and injuries with a mixture of clothing and cosmetic products befitting a queen, not a mere servant of the royal family. She had, he concluded, spent a great deal of time and resources into making it appear as though everything was completely normal for her...or someone else had.

Jax chewed religiously on the chunk of nerfburger in his mouth, trying to figure out exactly what he was going to say to the handmaiden of the Senior Princess of Hydia, and how, exactly, he was going to go about saying it. He knew there was more going on here than what met the eye, far more than the Jedi had been informed about upon accepting the plea for assistance. What that was, however, Jax Talia did not know, but it was something he had to find out, and soon.

"Sierra," Jax said slowly, taking his time to speak. "I know yer lyin' ta me, just as I know the whole Royal Court is lyin' ta me."

"I-I don't understand, Master Jedi."

"The facts don't match the story yer tellin' me, an' as much respect as I have fer yeh and yer masters I trust the facts more than I trust yer words."

"I-"

"If there is anything yer not tellin' me, Sierra, I must know, now. My Padawan is missin', I ain't heard from him in several hours; he shoulda already checked in. I can no longer sense him through the Force either; I know somethin' has happened ta him."

"I apologize, Master Jedi, and I mean you no disrespect, but perhaps your senses have failed-"

"That, meh dear, is not possible." Jax interrupted, quickly checking his temper. "The bond between a Jedi Knight an' his Padawan Learner is among the strongest in the known galaxy."

The young woman said nothing as she stirred the soup in an endless circle with her utensils. Jax knew she was lying, a fact he could recognize even without the subtle hint from the Force, that quiet nudge in the back of his mind that assured him she was hiding something.

"I am sorry, Master Jedi." She said at last. "But I have given my story and I stand by what I said."

"Sierra," Jax pressed on, feeling the first shades of agitation setting in. "My dear, yeh don't have ter be afraid any longer; yeh will have the full protection of the Jedi Order behind yeh-"

"I'm not afraid, Master Jedi."

"Yes, yeh are. I can sense it rollin' off of yeh in waves. I can see how yer masters have punished yeh fer yer failure in protectin' the Senior Princess. Do not presume ta think I can't see the bruises an' scares under those cosmetic products."

"Do not presume to think you know the puzzle, Master Jedi." The young woman warned, and there, in her eyes, was a flash of something, something major, something that, when and if Jax figured it out, would give him the answers he needed to complete this assignment.

"I reckon there are some things 'bout this situation that I dunno." Jax admitted. "'Tis the reason I am speakin' with yeh here now. If yeh give me the information I need yeh have meh word yeh will get the full protection o' the Jedi Order."

"The Jedi are inferior to them." The woman said. "Not even your noble Order could protect me from my masters."

Jax said nothing as he began chewing on another bite of nerf meat, and pretending to be hungry he thought some more on the situation at hand. The handmaiden was beyond scared, she was terrified, horrified at the mere thought of what the king and queen of Hydia could do to her if she defied them...

Another thought suddenly entered the Jedi Knight's mind, one he'd not yet even considered. Throughout the course of their conversation this handmaiden, Sierra, had not once referred to the queen or king of Hydia in a specific manner. Every time she spoke of them she kept referring to them as "my masters", something that, until just now, Jax had not thought of.

What if, Jax suddenly found himself asking, she wasn't a victim but rather a criminal? What if, rather than be _unable_ to defend the princess, she had _refused_ to defend the princess? Part of the theory he and Pax had put together was centered around the fact that the kidnapping had been too easy, suggesting there had been inside help in kidnapping the young girl. Who better to help kidnap the Senior Princess than her own handmaiden, her closest confidant?

This seemed almost impossible, Jax quickly told himself. He could see no visual signs of deception, signs he'd been taught to look for during his training with the Republic's Judicial forces, training he'd eagerly undertaken at the behest and encouragement of his old mentor, Jedi Master Plo Koon. To add to his confusion and hesitation to accept this newest possibility was the fact that he got no sense of deception from the Force; there was no illuminating light to dispell the shadows her words were casting.

And yet this seemed extraordinarily possible, Jax countered himself. Princess Wasoni had been kidnapped using the hidden tunnel under her bed, a tunnel that had likely always served as part of a larger escape route for the entire Royal Family in times of crisis. According to his investigation, only the most trusted of advisors and servants knew about these tunnels, and Sierra Klevs was up there with that select, miniscule group. Perhaps that was the reason the Royal Family had punished the young woman in such a way; perhaps they suspected her of assisting the kidnappers in jeopardizing the Crown's future.

Not bothering to finish his half-eaten nerfburger, Jax stood up, placed a handful of credits on the table in front of him, and move forward, stopping to place a single hand on the handmaiden's shoulder.

"I vow this, meh dear; my Padawan an' I will find Princess Wasoni. We will discover who is ta blame fer this crime an' fer this crime they will be punished. When the _Antares_ takes off we will have served justice...fer all." He pulled an electrical chip from his cloak. "Here are meh comlink codes. If yeh need me or decide yeh have somethin' to tell me, yeh may contact me, at any time."

And without saying another word he took off through the restaurant's front door, already pulling his comlink from his utility belt as he entered the alley next to the fancy establishment. In silence he entered a code he'd been given upon arrival and waited for it to go through.

_"Cia Shevu, Colonel of Royal Security. Something I can help you with, Master Talia?"_

"Colonel Shevu, I need everything yeh have on Princess Wasoni's head handmaiden."

_"Sierra Klevs?"_ The young guard asked. _"Do you suspect her?"_

"Not at the moment. Nothin' adds up though, and I'm sure we can both agree that it ain't wise ta discount a viable theory."

_"I second that, my Jedi friend. I'm transmitting even our top-level files to you now."_

"Just a moment." Jax answered, pulling his datapad free and going through the list of information he'd just been given.

Sierra Klevs was only eighteen standard years of age. She'd come from a poor family living in the Orange Moon District, and at the age of five she'd been discovered by a member of the Royal Court and taken to the palace, where she'd become the handmaiden to young Melody Wasoni, Senior Princess of Hydia.

Her parents, Mathulda and Herrin Klevs, owned a small, third-rate spaceport in their native Orange Moon District, and if the information he was reading was accurate then the girl's parents owed a small fortune to the HRS for faulty taxes.

"Colonel Shevu, does Sierra Klevs keep contact with her family?"

_"As per Royal Decree 619, she's allowed to return home for familial visit one week per standard galactic year, an option she's taken from the beginning of her service for the Crown."_

"Officially, her background is clear." Jax continued. "What 'bout unofficially?"

_"You mean has she ever been suspected of a crime that couldn't be proven?"_

"Yep."

_"Negative. According to her service records, she keeps her head down, her nose clean, and does her job. The Royal Family brags on her more than they do any of their other servants. Apparently the only blotch I can find is the fact that she's become more of a friend and less of a handmaiden to the Princess."_

"Somethin' most parents would be happy about." Jax mused to himself. "Does the data list any particular reasoning behind their unhappiness over this fact?"

_"They merely state potential security hazards."_ Colonel Shevu answered. _"You must understand, Master Talia, that the Royal Family is very strict about their servants knowing their places and acting accordingly."_

Jax did not say it, but he felt that, their scores of faults set aside, the monarchy of Hydia might well have had a reason to be so wary about their daughter's handmaiden growing so close to the future ruler of Hydia.

_"You believe Sierra Klevs is somehow involved with the Senior Princess's disappearance."_ The colonel said after a moment of silence, and it was all Jax could do to fight his surprise: he had not expected the man to pick up on his thoughts in such a way.

"It makes no sense, an' yet it makes perfect sense."

_"Master Talia, with all due respect to the Crown, they led you astray in presenting the crime scene to you upon your arrival."_

"Yep, I know." Jax answered. "The kidnappers, whoever they are, used the tunnel under the princess's bed to get her out o' the palace, meanin' they had help from the inside."

_"Sierra Klevs's parents own a spaceport in the Orange Moon District."_ Shevu said. _"I'll meet you there in ten minutes, see if we can find any clues as to the girl's whereabouts."_

"Copy that, Colonel. Jax Talia out."

Jax moved quickly to find an air taxi that would take him to the address they had on Sierra's parents and their spaceport. While the Jedi Knight did not approve of the way the Hydian leaders ruled, he couldn't help but admit that their head of security was one of the best he'd ever met. Cia Shevu was loyal, as loyal as any man could ever be, and he was very efficient at his job. He was a skilled investigator and a sharp detective, but he didn't allow his rank or sense of duty to warp his power. After only a single day Jax had already come to respect and even like the man.

Now if only he could make contact with his wayward Padawan. He trusted Pax to stay out of trouble; even before Jax had taken the child as his apprentice he had monitored Pax's progress and training from afar, and early on he'd realized the boy was not just a great slicer and communications expert but a handy Jedi as well, able to easily wriggle free of any trouble he found.

And yet something just didn't sit well in Jax's gut. He had been able to sense the boy from the moment he'd left, and while he'd felt the spike in emotions Jax knew to be the results of a fight he'd never felt his apprentice was in any real danger. Yet now he couldn't feel Pax at all, not even slightly. It was as though the boy had disappeared into nothingness, like he'd never even existed.

Pax Onasi wasn't dead; Jax knew he'd have felt it if his Padawan had become one with the Force. Being not dead and okay, however, were two different beings, a fact the knight knew firsthand.

* * *

{**Location:** Underground bunker, Volcosis, capital city of Volcam One, Inner Core}

Pax didn't know for sure how long he'd been out. His captor, whoever he, she, or it had been, had said the sedative he'd been given would knock him out for a single hour, standard time, but as the fuzzy, spinning room around him began to focus in and slow down Pax felt as though he'd been there a hundred times longer than a single hour.

Using an elementary Jedi calming technique, the young student forced the remnants of the sedative from his system, commanding his vision and other senses to listen to his will and mind once more.

Immediately he noticed he was being suspended above the ground in some kind of electrical force field. His ankles and wrists were all bound and secure, and no matter how much he wanted to he simply couldn't find the power to move. The room beyond his personal prison was warm and dark, and the light of his cage was too bright to let his eyes get accustomed to the darkness.

His lightsaber and comlink had been stripped of his body, leaving him defenseless and in a very bad way on a planet that may be no more friendly to the Jedi than their Hydian neighbors.

He closed his eyes and reached down into the Force, preparing to use it to free himself, but to his chagrin he discovered he was being constantly injected with small surges of electrical energy, making it impossible for him to concentrate long enough to use the Force. Whoever had captured him, Pax conceded, had definitely had experience with Jedi in the past; this was no amateur, not by a long shot, and that experience most likely involved _captive_ Jedi...this was definitely not the way he'd expected his first mission outside of the Temple to go.

"Good," That mechanical voice said. "You're awake. I was beginning to wonder if I didn't give you too much of that sedative."

"How long have I been out?" Pax asked.

"Two and a half hours." It answered. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I need a vacation to Alderaan."

"I've got questions," It ignored. "And for your sake, Jedi, you had better have some answers."

"I shall do my best." Pax responded. "However, if I do not have an answer I shall not lie to you."

"Why've you been assigned to Volcam One?"

"I was never assigned to Volcosis, nor was I ever assigned to Volcam One."

"Then what are you doing here?"

Pax considered for a moment whether or not he should tell the truth, but immediately he knew it would be best to do so...he could use that, he knew, to get information of his own. "I am on a sanctioned quest by the Hydian monarchy to search for their missing female offspring, the Senior Princess of Hydia, Melody Wasoni."

"What makes you think she's here on Volcam One?"

"I discovered a hidden tunnel under her bed in her private chambers. The incognito tunnel led me to Hydia's Orange Moon District, where I tracked her to a small spaceport. Here I obtained security holograms showing her embarking on a registered ship that journeyed here to Volcosis, capital city of Volcam One."

"Who assigned you this mission?"

"The Jedi Council, at the request of the Galactic Senate, at the request of the monarchy of Hydia."

"What have those fools told you?"

"That the Senior Princess of Hydia has been kidnapped and that we are to locate her and return her safely to Hydia."

"So you deny being hired by Hydia to assassinate the Emperor of Volcam One in an effort to collect the money owed?"

"I am aware of the outstanding debt owed to the Hydian monarchy by the Vryn throne, yes, but my mission was not to assassinate him: Jedi do not _assassinate_ anyone."

It laughed.

"You dress like a Jedi, speak like a Jedi, and carry a Jedi lightsaber, and yet you seem too young to be a Jedi Knight-"

"I am no Jedi Knight." Pax corrected. "I am merely a Padawan Learner. My master is currently on Hydia searching for the missing Senior Princess as well."

"You expect me to believe you?" It asked with another laugh.

"I do expect you to accept my words." Pax confirmed. "I am, after all, speaking the truth to you-"

"You're no Jedi and we both know it." It countered. "If you were any kind of Jedi I'd never have taken you so easily."

Pax opened his mouth to speak but closed it instead; he had asked himself that very question several times in the past couple of minutes. Why hadn't he sensed his captor coming up on him; why hadn't the Force warned him of the impending trouble? Of course, almost immediately, he found that he already knew his answer, as ashamed as he was to admit it.

"I did not sense your arrival because I allowed myself to be too distracted by my target."

"Perhaps." It considered. "We'll see, however; Emperor Detreo will decide whether or not you speak the truth. Guards!"

The door across from Pax opened and a squad of battle droids walked in, blaster rifles raised and at the ready.

"You are funded by the Trade Federation." Pax observed evenly.

"No." It countered. "We've purchased some of the droids once used by the Trade Federation; they're scrambling to downsize their corporate armies."

"I do not blame them, not after their invasion." Pax replied, his mind already at work figuring out a plan of escape. His lightsaber was nowhere to be seen, but that did not mean he was helpless.

"I'm turning your stasis field off; try anything stupid and I'll vap you where you stand."

"I understand."

It nodded and pressed a button on the power unit, and as Pax dropped to his feet the battle droids moved forward.

"Take him to His Excellency's main audience chamber." His captor instructed, but even as the lead battle droid approached him Pax was on the move.

He lashed out with a powerful Force Push, sending his captor flying back across the room, and jumping to his feet he used the Force to pull one of the droid's blaster rifle free of its hand.

The moment the seized weapon slapped against his palm he took aim and opened fire, dodging and weaving through the web of blaster fire now lancing out towards him. His aim, Pax quickly noted, needed improving, but at such close range there was very little chance of him being defeated, and in only a single minute he was spinning around, the droids now destroyed, and raising his rifle he took aim at his captor, only to see it had a dirty, massive blaster aimed at his head.

"I told you I'd vap you if-"

His captor was cut off, however, as the pistol jerked free of its hand and flew into Pax's own free hand, and as the Jedi apprentice leveled both weapons it began laughing.

"I can't believe it; you're the real deal."

"I tried informing you of this fact, but you would not listen to me."

"I'm sorry runt, but you were pretty easy to take down; easier than most drunkards."

"I am a Jedi apprentice; I have a great deal to learn before I become a full Jedi Knight."

"So, you still looking for the Senior Princess?"

"This is a fact."

"Well," And, as though it knew he'd not fire, his captor reached up, unsealed it's helmet, and pulled the helmet free of its head. "Now that you've found me what are you going to do with me?"

Pax nearly fainted where he stood; were it not for his Jedi powers he suspected he might well have done so. The girl standing in front of him was beautiful, only a few years older than himself, and her hair was as black as the depths of space with deep, violet streaks on the ends. Her eyes, as green as Pax's lightsaber blade, looked as though they'd seen more than any fourteen year-old girl should ever have to see.

"Your highness." Pax said slowly, offering an awkward, subjective bow. "I am most pleased to see you are fine and unharmed. I also confess myself surprised that your abductors have allowed you to roam free without-"

"I was never kidnapped." Melody Wasoni corrected, cutting Pax off before he could finish his sentence. "I ran away."

"You ran away from home?" He asked, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"Congratulations; you can hear." She confirmed sarcastically.

"Your patriarch and matriarch both believe you were abducted, and while it was falsified the crime scene-"

"My parents probably staged it all." She explained. "I'm the heir to the Crown of Hydia, and they'd lose face if the galaxy found out I'd run away from home, run away from _them_."

"I see." Pax picked up, realizing where she was going. "Claiming you were abducted would allow your matriarch and patriarch to hunt for you without having to admit you ran away from home. I must also confess I am slightly curious as to why you ran away from Hydia to your neighboring Volcam One. I was under the assumption Hydians viewed the Vryn as third-world, sub-class beings."

"A fault that will bring us down if we don't overcome it." She explained as Pax flipped her pistol upside down and handed it to her handle-first. "My parents and the wealthier Hydians think they're so much better than the rest of the galaxy, that we're the most important planet in the entire Republic."

"I am getting the impression that you are unlike your patriarch, matriarch, and the rest of your people."

"I came to Volcam One to help them be free of the oppression they've suffered under my parents and my ancestors. We loan them a small sum of money every year, just to keep their economy afloat, and we charge them a hundred times that much in response. According to the current contract negotiated by the planets, the Period of Repayment begins in a single standard week."

"What happens if Volcam One is unable to repay the debt?" Pax asked as she led him over to a metallic box on the other side of the room.

"According to the contract, Volcam One has one standard week to repay the debt, in full, or else they will be forced to allow themselves to become annexed by the Hydian government."

"And, according to the laws of the Galactic Republic, if this were to happen then the Vryn Fleet would be incorporated into the Hydian Fleet, making it exempt from Republic laws." And then another thought entered the Padawan's mind, and suddenly he found the puzzle was at last pieced together, plainly for him to see. "They would have the single strongest fleet of any system in the Galactic Republic, meaning they could blockade themselves off, hold the major trading lanes hostage, and force the Republic to agree to any demands the Crown might make."

"If I am not there to take the throne when the time comes then the Crown will dissolve and elections would be forced, making us a democracy."

"With all due respect, Princess-"

"It's Melody." She corrected. "I have renounced my title and birthright by running away."

"A thousand apologies, Melody." Pax answered. "As I was previously stating, there is likely going to be no need for the Crown to be passed down to an heir within the next two weeks."

"Perhaps, or perhaps not-"

"You are planning to assassinate your matriarch and/or your patriarch." Pax observed.

"I don't want to." Melody said. "As much as I hate them they're still my mom and dad. However, if their plans are allowed to come to pass then they will put Hydia and the entire Republic in jeopardy." She signed. "For as long as I can remember my parents and my tutors have drilled into me the importance of duty and the importance of me doing my duty to rule over my people."

"A true ruler does not truly rule her people." Pax advised. "A true ruler merely leads her government and represents the will of her people to the planetary and galactic governments. A true queen would be a servant to her people, not their lord."

"Exactly." Melody agreed. "This is a lesson my tutors refused to teach and a lesson they never learned."

"How is it, if I might inquire, that you learned this lesson, and at such a young age?"

"My conscience, unlike my parents', is alive and well. I will never rule Hydia, but because I was once its Senior Princess I must do my duty to my planet, and if that means incapacitating or even killing my parents, then it will break my heart in two, but I will still do it."

Pax could not help but respect this young girl, a child who had renounced the privileged and entitled life she'd been born into to make sure that her planet still had a future. She was willing to kill both of her parents to protect billions, perhaps trillions, of other people, beings she'd never even met before. Some might call this the Dark Side, and the Jedi would likely be among those, but Pax felt that it was simply someone doing what she had to do.

"I offer my services," Pax said suddenly. "For the immediate future. I cannot give you my word that the Jedi Council will not call me back upon learning the truth, but until they do I will assist you."

"The help of a Jedi-in-training." She mused, a smile crossing her face. "We're so lucky to have such expert-"

"I am forbidden, however, from assisting in the assassination of anyone, including your patriarch and matriarch. If you will trust me, however, there are other ways to force your parents to surrender the Crown and bring about your desired results."

"Like what?" She challenged.

"The monarchy knowingly and willingly falsified their report to the Galactic Senate, misappropriating Senate and Jedi resources; that is a crime our new Chancellor will not take lightly. They also pose a major threat to the homeland security of the Galactic Republic through these plans to take hostage the major shipping lanes that converge on Hydia, an even more serious charge."

"And if they are arrested and convicted they will be forced to relinquish the throne, which would then go down the line of succession to the first available heir, and because Brinkley is still in a vegetative state I'm the only one capable of taking the Crown, meaning elections would be held and the Crown would dissolve forever."

"There are alternatives to murder." Pax explained as Melody turned and entered a code into the box's control pad. Once this code was accepted she opened the box and withdrew Pax's lightsaber, returning the Jedi weapon to its owner pommel first.

"I thank you." Pax said, clipping the lightsaber to his belt once more.

"Come on, I'll take you to meet with Emperor Detreo and then we can discuss our next plan of action.

Pax nodded his head. He needed to inform either Jax or the Jedi Council, he knew, and in due time he would, but for now he knew his best option was to follow the wayward princess and make sure war didn't break out.

He was sure Jax Talia would likely disapprove of his words and actions, but Pax also knew he had no other choice. If he didn't, then the king and queen of Hydia would be assassinated by Vryn commandos, likely sparking a deadly war between the neighboring planets, a war that could cripple the Republic. He was a Jedi and that was, he saw, all there was to it. The rank of Padawan, Knight, or Master no longer mattered; the Republic was in grave danger, and Melody Wasoni had done her duty; now it was time for him to do his.

* * *

{**Location:** Termina, Tingle Arm, Beyond the Outer Rim Territories}

The Jedi Enclave on Termina had been abandoned for over three thousand years, and right now, as Kitch Surik and Lor Kavar entered the clearing where what had once been the enclave now stood, every one of those three thousand years was showing.

Kitch had studied Jedi ruins hundreds of times in the past, but none of the images he'd come across in the Jedi Archives could even come close to what he was seeing now. The enclave had likely once been impressive. It was four massive square rooms linked together by wide corridors, and in the middle of the enclave was a giant courtyard with what had once been a retractable roof, and, according to the data Kitch had retrieved, this was where the Enclave Council, the five Jedi Masters in charge of the Jedi forces on Termina and the surrounding systems, had once met and where the texts they were now looking for would be found. Looking at the rubble, however, Kitch now asked himself how they were going to find anything among this jumble of ruins that nature had since begun to reclaim.

"Did you get a map of the enclave before we left the capital?" Lor asked, obviously thinking the same thing.

"I did." Kitch confirmed, bringing up the map on his datapad. "Of course, this map was likely made back before the Treaty of Coruscant, so it might be just a _little_ outdated."

"Okay, what can you tell me about the Termina Enclave?"

"It was constructed nearly five thousand years ago to serve as a forward operating base for Jedi forces in this region of the galaxy due to the amount of time required to travel here from the capital.

"The four main rooms we see before us enclose a courtyard built with a retractable roof and served as the meeting chambers of the Enclave Council, which was made up of five Jedi Masters who had immediate control of Jedi Knights in this section of the galaxy. The four rooms consisted of the War Room, the Enclave Libraries, the Navigation and Communications Center, and a Garage."

"What about quarters for Jedi assigned here?"

"The sublevels of the enclave housed the number of Jedi Apprentices, Knights, and Masters assigned to this part of the galaxy. Each room had two bunks, one for a Knight and the other for his or her apprentice."

"What about defenses?"

"At one time there were considerable surface-to-air defenses and anti-troop defenses, as well as a deflector shield that covered the enclave and surrounding area. The sublevels also housed a small armory with which the Enclave Council could arm the nearby colonists should the need arise.

"Following the Treaty of Coruscant, however, as per the conditions agreed upon at the Treaty's signing, the Order abandoned all of its enclaves, most of which were then occupied by Sith forces. Eventually, all known Jedi Enclaves were retaken by Republic forces, but only a select handful were ever reused; the Termina Enclave was not among them. As time moved on, the Order's use of enclaves slowly died off, and now the Order operates out of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant."

"Impressive." Lor commended. "You've studied."

"According to the information Master Yoda and the Council gave us the hidden archives containing the Order's ancient texts would be located under the courtyard where the Enclave Council once met." Kitch continued. "It was designed so that no scanners or other technology could ever locate them without prior knowledge of the room, a move to protect this knowledge from the prying eyes of the Sith assigned to occupy the planet."

"And what is your opinion on the use of enclaves?"

"Ma'am?"

"Some Jedi, particularly older Jedi, believe the we should reinstate the use of the Enclave System, repair and reopen some of our older, more remote enclaves; what do you think?"

Kitch thought on the subject a moment before answering. "I believe it has its advantages, just as it has its draw backs. The advantages are obvious enough: a Jedi team coming from an enclave on, say, Dantooine, could reach planets like Muunilinst and Bimmiel faster than a Jedi Team having to come from Coruscant, and in a volatile situation where time is of the essence that would be the difference between success and failure. Also, with Jedi enclaves spread throughout the galaxy the Jedi would have more of a day-to-day presence in the lives of billions of Republic citizens, meaning more beings would come to trust us."

"And the disadvantages?"

"It would spread the Order out too thin. Millennia ago the Enclave System worked perfectly, when there were thousands and thousands of Jedi Knights to serve the galaxy, but now, when we number just under a full ten thousand spread across the galaxy, when our numbers have been falling for the past century straight, it could prove disastrous."

"If the decision was up to you?"

Kitch hesitated in answering. He had often thought that housing the Jedi Order on a planet as crowded as Coruscant was a mistake, for a host of reasons, among them the fact that there was so many beings that could influence a Jedi youngling in a negative way. However, he also knew that housing the Order in a few dozen enclaves was dangerous, for like he'd just explained to Lor the Jedi numbers were declining. Finally, though, he spoke.

"I would continue to do as we're doing now." Kitch answered. "The dangers of spreading our numbers too thin right now are too great, and when we add in the dangers now faced with the Sith being active once more, it's just better to keep our numbers concentrated at one main base of operations. A hundred Jedi are more powerful than one Jedi. I would, however, move the Jedi Temple."

"Move the Jedi Temple?"

Kitch nodded. "Coruscant is too crowded to properly train the most powerful and, possibly, the most dangerous beings in the galaxy. There isn't a piece of Coruscant left that's natural. The Force surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together. It is in every living thing, from the smallest insect to the biggest animal or being known. With only a trillion or two Coruscanti citizens to fuel the Force on the capital the dangers are astronomical. The Force is ever-so-slowly becoming more and more clouded, especially on Coruscant. I do not feel the Jedi Temple is as pure as it should be."

"A view most would say is way out there, near Potentium-levels." Lor said softly, mentioning a group of exiled Jedi who believed the Jedi view on the Force was flawed.

"And you?" Kitch asked slowly. "What would you say, Master Kavar?"

"I would say you're still young, with much to learn." Lor admitted. "However, I would add that I would never consider discounting your opinion merely because you're still young."

The two began approaching the enclave, which was still far enough away that they couldn't see the front entrance properly.

"Kitch," Lor said, again using his first name, a rare act in and of itself. "I never properly thanked you for what you did to get us out in one piece before the _Challenger's _reactor went critical."

"No thanks needed, Master Kavar; I did what any Jedi would have done."

"Perhaps, but you went above and beyond the call of duty; I owe you my life." She laughed. "When Jocasta Nu first assigned you to tag along with me I was furious."

"A Jedi doesn't get furious-"

"We do." Lor corrected. "To get angry, upset, mad, or hurt is to be sentient; it's what sets us apart from most animals. To control those emotions is to be a Jedi. I was furious that she was forcing me to take an apprentice with me, a mere boy I knew very little about, a child, rumor has it, had never even turned his lightsaber on, much less use it." She turned and smiled down at him. "I am glad I was wrong."

"Wrong?"

She nodded her head. "At the time I thought Madame Jocasta and Master Yoda were showing that they didn't believe in me to get such an easy task accomplished, that they were sending you along to "monitor" me. Now, though, I realize what they were getting at; they knew how dangerous this place was, and even though I didn't realize it I needed someone at my back, someone trustworthy." She placed a comforting hand on his shoulders. "You'll make someone a great Padawan soon, I foresee."

"You, perhaps?" He asked, hoping that Lor would not see the small glimmer of hope lying under his coat of sarcasm and humor. The Jedi Knight, however, shook her head.

"I'm not ready for an apprentice yet, Apprentice Surik." She said. "Taking on a Padawan Learner is one of the most important decisions any Jedi at any level can make. It requires intense meditation on the Jedi in question's part. It requires that Jedi, and the apprentice, to put their safety, their life, into another's hands. A Jedi Knight must teach her learner all she knows-" Lor cut off and sighed. "I'm not ready to become a teacher, Kitch."

He nodded his head without speaking; he understood her words well, and while he was ready to move up in the ranks of the Jedi he knew it would do great harm for her to take him when she felt she wasn't yet ready.

"Regardless," He said eventually, the enclave ruins now coming closer. "I have learned a lot from you, Master Kavar. In a few days I've learned double what I've learned during my entire life. It's been a pleasure, ma'am."

"And it's been a pleasure teaching you. I do, however, have a question."

"Master Kavar?"

"That." She explained. "No matter what I say you're always calling me 'Master'; why?"

"Because it's your proper title." Kitch explained, curious as to why she would ask such a question. She laughed.

"I just became a Jedi Knight," She explained. "Fresh out of my apprenticeship; I'm years from becoming a Jedi Master."

"Perhaps you're years from being officially declared a Jedi Master by the Council, but I believe you've already achieved the rank, even if it is unofficial."

"Such sentimentality." A woman's voice spat suddenly, forcing the pair of Jedi to stop dead in their tracks. "It's a wonder the Jedi have survived for so long."

"Who are you?" Lor asked, and while her hands did not move Kitch could feel her preparing for battle; she would, he realized, have her weapons drawn before their enemies even suspected.

"Your worst nightmare." The voice answered darkly, and at last Kitch could see their visitors; from the shadows cast by the ruins of what had once been the front entrance to the Jedi Enclave of Termina, a trio of figures strode confidently into the light, and immediately, despite the strength of the Force on this planet, it felt to Kitch as though a massive thunderstorm had suddenly blown in, a feeling he'd felt once before, not so long ago...

"I must give the Jedi their dues." The figure on the far right, the only male of the group, said with a sharp laugh. "I'd not have expected them to survive that crash landing."

"_You_ shot us down." Lor said, and while her voice was even Kitch could feel the anger beginning to roll off of her, something he didn't need the Force for.

"What are you going to do about it, Jedi?" The middle figure, a woman, asked. "You can't hope to defeat us; we're far too powerful for the likes of you."

"I'll be the judge of that." Lor answered.

_Snap-hiss._

Kitch held his feelings in check as three identical crimson blades snapped into life, the three figures continuing their lazy march towards the Jedi pair.

_Snap-hiss._

Lor Kavar's identical blades screamed to life as the Knight took her stance, the blades held up in front of her, criss-crossing one another in a silvery "X", ready to take whatever their opponents dished out.

"You're better off surrendering." The man said. "You will not prevail, for we are Sith."

"Sith?" Kitch asked, laughing now. "That's funny, because there are always two Sith, never any more, never any less. A master to embody power, and an apprentice to crave it."

"The Sith would never retake the galaxy using such stupid rules." The woman said. "The fool Darth Bane would have us spend the rest of eternity in a weakened state, lying in the shadows under the Jedi Order's heel. That is why our noble ancestors fled to Termina to hide themselves and slowly train up only the most powerful army in history, an army that would finish the war between the Jedi and Sith once and for all!"

"You're no more Sith Lords than I am." Kitch countered. "I just encountered a Dark Lord, a member of, as you called him, Darth Bane's Code of Two: this Sith's power would snuff you out like a weak flame in a thunderstorm, and this was just a vision, not even an in-person meeting."

In response the youngest member of the group, a girl to the far left, raised her hands, and from her fingers erupted the power of ten thunderstorms, aimed directly at Kitch. Before her lethal attack could reach him, however, Lor's right silver blade was dropping in front of him, catching the electrical assault and turning it harmlessly away.

The two older dark opponents took this opportunity and charged forward in unison, forcing Lor to twirl away from Kitch in order to defend herself. Her lightsabers were a blur of motion, easily warding off the two self-proclaimed Sith Lords as she allowed them to push her back. Kitch, however, now turned his focus to the third member of the group, the girl who looked to be no older than he was, studying her cloaked figure and trying to determine how best to defeat her.

"What are you waiting for?" Kitch asked, standing mere feet away from her. "I have taken no steps to defend myself; a true Lord of the Sith would have already struck me down."

"Your Jedi treachery will not save you now." She said, and while he could sense the anger and hatred flowing from her she still did not move.

"Jedi treachery?" Kitch asked. "I'm afraid I really have no idea what you're talking about."

In response the girl used the Force to send her cloak flying behind her, and as she brought her lightsaber up she began to circle Kitch, forcing him to do the same. Neither of them spoke, and taking advantage of this silent, tense peace the young Jedi began to study his opponent in detail, hoping to find some weakness he could exploit.

She was several inches shorter than he was and could be no older than he was, and while most would say this youth made her less skilled, Kitch, being a Jedi, knew better: physical age and status had no power where skill and intelligence ruled.

Her dirty blonde hair was kept in a tight ponytail that hugged her back as it traveled down to her waist, and her red and yellow eyes looked as though they could pierce anything, a side effect, Jedi records indicated, that came from constant submission to the Dark Side of the Force. She wore a jet black bodysuit that hugged her body tightly, revealing the two small mounds that were in fact her budding breasts, the first sign that she was beginning to mature from a girl into a woman.

The lightsaber in her hand was as simple as it was deadly, a mere black cylinder, metallic in design, with no true design and an emitter that gave life to a blade the color of blood.

Her face bore black tribal-style paint, false tattoos similar to those sported by the Zabrak Sith Lord who'd killed Qui-Gon Jinn on Naboo just days ago. Her lips and fingernails were also painted black, and several poisonous darts lined the belt wrapped around her waist.

"Like what you see?" She asked with a sneer, still not moving to attack the defenseless Jedi enemy before her.

There was something else about this girl, though, something that was currently lying dormant under the clouds of darkness surrounding her, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was...if only he could use the Force properly like normal.

_"This planet is an amplifier in addition to a suppresser."_ An unknown voice said in the Padawan's ear. _"The entire planet is the Force itself; use it."_

"What?" Kitch asked dully, closely eyeing his adversary.

"What?" She repeated, suspicion clouding her Sith eyes.

"What'd you say?"

"I said nothing."

"Another of your 'Sith' tricks, I suppose." Desperate now to figure out what he should do next as the sound of hissing lightsabers began to slowly grow faint.

_"Do not ask questions."_ That voice said again_. "Just do it."_

Deciding he had nothing else to lose, Kitch nodded and began gathering the Force around him. Rather than view it as a suppressor, like he'd been doing, he began treating the planet of Termina as an amplifier, and suddenly everything became starkly clear.

He could sense Lor Kavar, too far away to see now, fighting both of her adversaries at once, her heart pounding and adrenaline spiking. He could sense every animal around him, and he could sense the girl standing right in front of him.

In the darkness that composed her Force presence he was startled to see something that never, as long as he could have lived, would he have expected to find in a Dark Lord (or Lady) of the Sith...beneath the turbulent darkness of her Force energy, he could sense light, a kindness no true Sith knew...

"You've not given yourself to the Dark Side fully, not yet." Kitch said, not even realizing what he was saying.

"I _am_ the Dark Side." She growled, taking a step forward.

Kitch, however, opened himself up wider to the Force, allowing it to fully take him over; it was as though he was suddenly reading a biography on the girl before him.

"Your progress in this Sith society has been marred." He continued. "You commit random acts of kindness, small acts that barely even register with your dark masters."

"You-"

"You decide not to kill an opponent in combat here, or save a wounded animal there. You weren't always Sith; you weren't always ruled by darkness and evil."

"How do you know-"

Kitch decided not to answer that question, for the truth of the matter he didn't really know how he knew so much about an evil girl he'd _just_ met, a girl almost ready to charge at him with an active lightsaber in her hands.

This newfound abilities scared the young apprentice beyond anything he'd ever experienced, even more so than his vision of that Zabrak Sith. However, remembering his Jedi training he quickly tried to calm himself, focusing on that calm center and allowed this fear to move through him so that it might be replaced by acceptance and understanding.

"That's how the Sith got to you." Kitch continued on, pressing his luck. "They kidnapped you when you were still an infant, and then they played on your fear that you had been too weak to defend yourself and family, fear that you'd lose those you loved, they made you hate them for kidnapping you, and then, once you gave in to the Dark Side of the Force, they promised you powers with which you'd never again be defenseless, that you'd never be so weak. They've got you good, but they've not conquered you, not yet."

"I'm a Sith-"

"And I'm still alive." Kitch countered, raising his hands to show he wasn't going for his own lightsaber; it had no place here, not now, not with this young. "I know you're down there, E-"

She suddenly charged, screaming a furious curse as she began crazily chopping and slashing at him, but even now, with his life mere centimeters from ending, he did not go for his lightsaber.

Kitch jumped back, ignoring a devastating thrust that had almost intercepted his abdomen, and dodging even more attacks he began to laugh.

"Your training has been shoddy: I've seen younglings with better saber skills than you've got-"

Another primal scream erupted from the girl and once more forks of lightning escaped her fingers, and knowing from his studies how dangerous an attack this was, he finally brought his lightsaber up to guard, igniting the green blade with that familiar _snap-hiss_.

The electricity crackled and wrapped around his blade, and as the girl upped her power the blade began pushing back towards him, and in response he began pushing forward on his weapon, willing it to repel the Sith attack.

The girl almost immediately let up on her attack, realizing she was expending too much power for so little results. She instead charged forward, her movements suddenly much more precise and effective; she was expending little energy while he was having to fight just to defend himself.

"I recognize the style." Kitch said, now being pushed away from the enclave ruins and towards the edge of a massive cliff. "Makashi, Form Two of lightsaber combat. Impressive for one your age, but you still have much to learn before you'd be considered a master of the Second Form, or even proficient in its use."

A sudden overhead chop forced Kitch to bring his lightsaber up once more, this time over his head, catching the crimson bar of plasma a mere inch from his skull.

"I WILL KILL YOU!" She roared, and suddenly she launched into a furious attack more powerful than it had been before, and Kitch was suddenly aware of her drawing heavily on the Force, funneling it through her arms and corrupting it as it fueled her attacks; she'd also been studying the Seventh Form, Vaapad, originally known as Juyo.

Kitch, having only received basic lightsaber instructions, was forced to retreat, no longer parrying or blocking his attacks but instead simply dodging them; there was no chance, he knew, that he could match the girl in a pure lightsaber duel. This, he could see, would be the quickest path to his death.

After several minutes of combat, minutes spent in silence as the young Jedi desperately fought for his life, Kitch now stood on the edge of a high cliff that stood tall and proud over a jungle below, a small river flowing angrily through it. He tried desperately to connect with the Force, to mind his training as Lor Kavar had taught him, but this Sith's attacks were so furious and so powerful that he couldn't concentrate long enough to think; he wasn't being given the opening he deserved.

She brought her blade under and up, slashing at his thighs, and to match her attack Kitch brought his blade down, green meeting red in a shower of angry sparks. However, she retracted her blade impossibly fast, and sensing her sudden opportunity she thrust forward, and in sheer desperation Kitch jumped to the side, and what would have been a deadly stab turned instead into a painful graze that burned the fabric of his Jedi robes.

The girl, however, was on the move, bringing her blade in towards him in a horizontal right-to-left cut, and realizing too late the danger he was in, Kitch moved his blade accordingly.

One second. One mere second in time; this was all it took to change the outcome of this battle. One second too late, and the crimson blade was easily slicing through the metal and wires that made up the hilt of his training saber, leaving him defenseless, vulnerable to the Sith Lady's attack.

Laughing as she savored her victory the girl shut off her lightsaber and hooked it back to her belt, and before Kitch knew what was going on he felt an invisible, powerful fist closing around his throat as he was lifted into the air; breathing was suddenly impossible.

"Now you will experience the full power of the Dark Side of the Force!" She demanded, and for a third time the lightning escaped her fingers. This time, however, the was no lightsaber in front of him to block the attack, no Jedi Knight to defend him, and explosively the electricity was tearing through him, causing him to scream in agony as he felt it burn away at his skin and organs.

His screams, however, quickly became gargled as she tightened her grip around his throat, and he could feel his body begin to shut down from the amount of damage it was taking.

"And now." She said moments later, Kitch so weak and so near unconsciousness that he only just heard her words. "You will die."

Through his blurred vision he saw her go for her utility belt, and three seconds later he felt a prick in his neck...his body's systems began shutting down one at a time, unable to fight the effects of the poison now in his body.

A powerful wind then whipped up around him, and with a final burst of Force Lightning he was thrown over the edge of the cliff and began the free-fall to his fate. Closing his eyes the young apprentice, a Jedi to the end, accepted his fate, repeating the Jedi Code to himself one final time as the ground rushed up towards him, his body too weak for his voice to even be heard, forcing him to recite the words in a dying silence.

**_There is no Emotion, there is only Peace. There is no Ignorance, there is only Knowledge. There is no Passion, there is only Serenity. There is no Chaos, there is only Harmony. There is no Death, there is only the Force._**

And with the resulting impact, his entire universe shattered away.

* * *

Lor Kavar somersaulted over the pair of attacking Sith, and even as they turned she was launching a heavy push fueled by the Force, an attack that sent the female Sith flying through the dense forest air and away from the fight, leaving the young Jedi Knight alone with her male attacker.

He brought his crimson blade down towards her head, but Lor expertly caught the attack by forming her twin blades in an 'X' style and holding them high above her. The moment his crimson clashed with her silver she flicked her wrists, snapping his lightsaber over and out of his hands. Lor charged forward, then, jumping up and kicking the man in his dark-skinned face, and even as he stumbled back she was lashing out with her right foot, catching him in the chest with a kick that sent him careening to the ground.

Before she could finish him off, however, she felt a sudden surge of warning, a nudge through the Force that told her what was coming her way: Lor spun around and brought the silver blade in her hand up just in time to catch the second crimson blade, this in the hands of the female Sith.

"Not bad." The woman admitted. "For a Jedi."

In response Lor powered her way free of the saber-lock, using her strength, fueled by the Force, to push the woman back and away from her.

_Snap-hiss._

Lor knew immediately that her male foe was back on his feet and coming at her once more, and knew all too well the danger this put her in. As if on cue, the pair struck together, forcing Lor to use each of her blades for defense, each blade catching one Sith weapon before it could strike home. Lor Kavar, however, was not intimidated: after all, she'd trained for hundreds of hours with Mace Windu, arguably the greatest swordsman in the galaxy, and with that training now coming into play, she knew exactly what to do.

She retracted both blades while at the same time jumping back so that she was no longer between the two dark warriors, and while they continued to attack in unison she was now a blur of motion.

She could now see the one or two seconds after his attack and before hers, and with that knowledge she brought her right blade up, caught his attack, and twisted it around and back up just in time to catch hers; two Sith with one lightsaber.

Before either Sith realized the danger they were in her second lightsaber was coming up and under, thrusting at the man's groin, forcing him to shut his lightsaber off and somersault to safety, a move Lor had predicted. Even as she blocked another powerful strike from the female warrior Lor was reaching out in the Force and sending a heavy, sturdy boulder sailing through the air.

She now turned her attention to the lone warrior. This woman was good, Lor forced herself to admit. Her movements were straightforward and precise; she used only the bare minimal amount of energy her movements needed. She followed a single line, front and back, her feet shifting to keep her constantly in perfect balance as she retreated and then came on suddenly with devastating thrusts that had Lor stumbling backward. This woman, Lor realized, was a fencer: she'd mastered the largely forgotten art of Makashi.

An overhead attack cut down at Lor, and this, she decided, was where history must repeat itself. Like she'd done minutes before with the woman's partner, Lor brought her silver blades up in an 'X' above her head, and once the blades had met she flicked her wrists, snapping the woman's blade from her hand and sending it crashing to the ground; a follow up push from the Force and the woman was flying away from her.

Realizing both combatants were down Lor turned and, not bothering to extinguish her blades, took off running, desperate to reunite with Kitch Surik and make sure he hadn't met disaster in dealing with the third (and youngest) of the Sith trio.

A dark blur suddenly blew by her, however, and instantly Lor was screeching to a halt, stopping before the male Sith.

"This isn't over yet." He said as his blade ignited once more. Lor, however, did not give him a chance to attack. She leapt forward, somersaulting through the air, and as she landed behind him he spun around, bring his defenses up as Lor began raining down a furious barrage of blows upon him.

With a burst of Force energy, he sent her back, giving up just enough of an opening to allow him to charge forward, attacking furiously now, and in response Lor threw herself to the ground. Not realizing the tactic until it was too late the Sith Lord made to step over her fallen form, and seizing her chance once more Lor brought her left blade around, cutting through flesh, meat, bone, meat, and flesh again as she amputated his legs just under the kneecaps.

As the man screamed in pain, Lor jumped to her feet, her lightsabers now down at her sides, and all too easily she grabbed the man with a force hold, and moving to end the duel Lor pulled him towards her. Her two blades cut upwards, cutting through both of his arms, and continuing in their trek the two blades then sliced through his neck, meeting in the middle with an angry hiss of sparks as his head fell off and rolled along the ground.

"NO!" A woman shouted, and spinning around Lor surged forward, meeting the newest attack. The two women stood toe-to-toe, double silver and single red dancing together to form a deadly, exotically beautiful dance of plasma energy, an act unlike any the galaxy had ever seen.

Slowly, painfully, Lor began pushing the woman back, and for the next five minutes it appeared as though the Jedi would win. However, just as Lor was preparing to execute a series of lethal cuts, she felt something in the Force, something she'd never felt before. Her entire body froze and her breath caught deep below her chest as she felt a presence in the Force, something akin to a star, flicker briefly before exploding and winking out of existence.

The presence, she knew, was Kitch Surik. Where he'd been nothing in her mind a second ago he was now all she could sense, the spot where his star had, mere moments ago, been burning brightly and proudly now consumed by a terrible, life-sucking black hole.

"Kitch." Lor gasped, falling to her knees as both of her lightsabers shut off. "Kitch, no, it can't be, you can't d-die on me, n-not now."

However, deep down, Lor Kavar knew what she'd felt; Kitch Surik, Jedi Apprentice and unofficial child protégé of the Jedi Archives, was dead.

"You sense it as well." The woman before her sneered. "And another Jedi bites the dust."

Lor looked up, anger surging through her body, but all she noticed was a small, venomous dart vectoring in towards her neck, and a nanosecond later she felt the prick as the tip pierced her skin and injected its contents...Lor Kavar's world went dark as she fell to the ground.

* * *

**[Two standard hours later]**

Arianna, Waylon, Hawya, and Duran had spent nearly a full hour searching the Jedi ruins and surrounding area for any signs of the Republic forces that had been aboard the downed cruiser, but so far they'd had no luck, and now, Arianna knew, it was time for them to move on. However, as she was preparing to give the order the loud sound of a bellowing Wookie cut her off.

"What is it, Hawya?" She asked as she, her husband, and their newest ally raced towards the cliff edge where the Wookie was standing, her hand held out.

She was, Arianna realized as she approached the female Wookie, holding the charred remains of a lightsaber, a lightsaber that had been built (and used) very recently.

"It's a training saber from the Jedi Temple." Duran declared upon seeing the remains of the weapon as he, too, joined the growing group. "I recognize what's left of the design."

"A Jedi apprentice, here, on Termina?" Arianna asked, studying the weapon carefully.

"And with no Master." Waylon added. "Very strange, very strange indeed-"

"Look!" Duran shouted, and without waiting he jumped off of the cliff, and not thinking Arianna immediately followed suit, mimicking Duran and gathering the Force around her to soften her landing.

"What'd you see, Duran?" She asked, running behind the young Jedi. Before he could answer, however, she noticed what had caught his attention: it was a body, a fresh one too, of a boy, only ten or eleven years old, his body face-down in the Terminian dirt.

As Arianna bent down to inspect the body she noticed that the blood vessels, tinted a pale green color, had engorged themselves and were close to the surface.

"He was poisoned." She declared, moving to feel for a pulse. When she looked up at her three fellows, however, she nodded her head. "He's gone."

She moved, then, to roll the boy over onto his back, to perhaps see if they could find any other signs as to what had happened to him. Instead, however, the expelled Jedi found herself staring down at a young boy with a head that had mixed her hair with her husband's face. As the grief began to well up inside of her, Arianna's blood went cold as her heart froze into a block of sheer ice.

"I know him!" Duran shouted immediately, now standing directly over Arianna.

"You do?" She asked, praying to the Force that, somehow, this wasn't who she knew it was.

"His name's Kitch-"

Arianna felt her heart shatter as her blood evaporated from its cold state. "Kitch?" She asked, forcing herself to sound casual. Duran nodded his head.

"Kitch _Surik_; he's an apprentice at the Temple. The boy's a bookworm who reads more than he trains. No Jedi Knight in his right mind would take a weak Archive rat like him on as a Padawan; what's he doing out here?"

She forced herself, now, to move forward, finding little comfort in knowing that, like his mother, her son had found his place in the Jedi Archives.

"Collect his body, Hawya, if you will." She ordered, climbing to her feet before making her way towards her husband. "The least we can do for him is give him the proper Jedi burial, rather than leave him out for the local wildlife."

Looking up into Waylon's eyes, she found he, too, was just barely holding back the grief, but there was something else there, something that allowed her to draw some comfort from her son's untimely demise. He'd answered the call of duty as any Jedi should, and, based on the charred remains of the lightsaber Hawya had discovered, he'd not gone down quietly. She would honor that sacrifice, no matter how much it might hurt her to bury her first child. She would make sure he was given the proper honors; it was the least she could do, after all, the smallest gift the mother could give to the son she'd abandoned to the Jedi.

* * *

***gasps* I killed Kitch off! The main character of my story and I sent him spiralling helplessly to his death! By the Force, what have I done?! This is wrong, so very wrong! People are going to be in an uproar, demanding my head on a platter! The masses are going to scream for my blood!**

**So, what'd you guys think? It looks like the puzzle's starting to come together now, doesn't it? Trust me, this is just barely the beginning. Let me know what ya thought, and in the meantime, stay tuned...**


	8. Path of Enlightment

**Well, I know it's been quit a while since I updated, and so, to make up for the length of time between updates, I give you, today, not one, not two, but three new chapters. So, here you go. **

**And no, I don't own _Star Wars_, it now belongs to Disney. Now, on with the show.!**

* * *

**ADDITIONAL STORIES BY**Guardian Kitch**:**

_**Star Wars: Jedi Wasteland (Star Wars/Star Wars: The Clone Wars)**_

_**Teen Titans: The Approaching Storm (Teen Titans/Star Wars)**_

_**Gates of Terabithia (Bridge to Terabithia)**_

_**Sins of the Father (Harry Potter)**_

_**Harry Potter and the Labyrinth of Evil (Harry Potter)**_

* * *

_**Chapter Eight: Path of Enlightenment **_

{**Location: **Termina, Tingle Arm, Beyond the Outer Rim Territories}

Arianna Surik climbed to her feet, the first time she'd stood up in over six full hours. Upon finding the remains of her oldest son, the group of four had moved to find a spot suitable for a funeral pyre, as was the tradition when it came to burying Jedi Knights. However, nearly half an hour after finding the body of the young Jedi, Arianna had felt something deep inside of the boy, something weak, erratic, and quickly fading...she had, to her startled amazement, sensed life beginning to emanate from her son once more. Incredibly, miraculously, as though the Force itself were willing it, the boy was still alive.

It had been immediately and unanimously decided that they should find shelter for the remainder of the day and the coming night rather than press on to the unknown temple that had shot them down, a place where they could rest and (hopefully) get the apprentice awake and find out just what had happened to him. Even as they'd continued walking, seeking their to-be-sheltered spot, Arianna had begun using the Force to transfer her own life energies into her son so that he might live until suitable shelter could be found, where she would then be able to perform more advance techniques and thus stabilize the kid.

Upon finding the cave they were now, albeit temporarily, calling home, she'd placed her son in a medical Jedi trance, allowing his own body to begin the healing process while she used the Force to bolster his immune system and other vital organs.

The poison that flowed through his blood, she'd quickly discovered, was more powerful than any venom she'd ever before encountered; this poison had been designed to kill, but how Kitch had survived was still a mystery.

In the end it had taken six full hours of meditation, along with every amount of her energy and power, to save the young boy, and even now, as he rested, drifting in and out of coconsciousness, his fate was still uncertain.

Her knees buckled as she moved away from her son, but years of Jedi training allowed her to remain standing as she continued moving forward. She was drained, not just physically but emotionally as well, but she trusted in her body and the Force to keep her steady and upright.

She looked around the cave, only to find Duran missing and Waylon and Hawya both fast asleep. Arianna sighed as she approached the cave entrance: she wasn't too worried about the second Jedi now among them. That boy, she knew, had to be moving constantly, or else he'd go crazy; likely he'd gone for a quick run to give himself a proper workout before settling down for the afternoon. She suspected Waylon and Hawya had both decided to sleep now and rebuild their energy so that when they were needed later they'd be ready for whatever came her way. As the sun continued to set lower and lower along the horizon, Arianna peeled back the wrapper of a ration bar and began chewing, ignoring the tastelessness of the food, knowing that her body needed to be recharged if she was to be of any further use to her son, her husband, and the rest of her comrades.

In only a single minute the ration bar was gone, and, feeling just a small fraction of her strength returning to her once more, she pulled her comlink from her belt and loaded a chip on which she'd stored a blood sample from her son.

"Gundark hailing Bantha, Gundark hailing Bantha, do you copy?" She asked, now speaking into the small device. She doubted that those occupying the target temple could break her encryption codes, levels of encryption that had served her faithfully, perfectly, time and time again, even in the worse situations. However, she still felt it appropriate to use the codenames for herself and the Knight Fleet, just to be safe.

_"Bantha here," _The voice of that faithful Mon Cal, Captain Zorah, immediately crackled through her comlink: the Hope Fleet had already taken up orbit around them, ahead of the schedule she'd set before departing her flagship. She allowed a small smile; Captain Zorah was nothing if not prompt and on top of his job. _"Go ahead, Gundark."_

"Bantha, move away from my nest; I suggest taking cover behind a boulder, as we have enough vermin snooping around" She ordered. "Also, I need patching through to Doc."

_"Copy that, Gundark. We're moving away from your nest now."_

There was a moment of silence as her signal was relayed to Corporal Xan.

_"Doc here, Gundark. How may I help you?"_

"I'm sending you a blood sample for immediate analysis; I need that information _immediately_, Doc."

_"Affirmative, Gundark; give me just a minute."_

Again there was silence on the comlink as Corporal Xan ran the complete battery of tests on that sample. Arianna needed to know, now, what kind of poison had almost killed her Jedi son. If they were facing assassins she needed to know who they were, and one of the keys in determining what assassins one was facing, she knew, was to identify their venoms of choices: the major assassin guilds spread across the galaxy each had their own, unique forms of poisons they used, venom that set them apart from each other. Also, she added silently, she needed to know if it was possible to formulate an antidote to this poison.

_"Gundark, this is Doc." _Xan answered back. _"The witch count is way up there, even by mage standards. This blood is also saturated to the core with a very rare type of venom."_

"Can you identify?"

_"Not immediately, Gundark: I've never seen anything like it before. All I can say is that whoever was injected died within five minutes...a very _painful _five minutes, if I might add."_

"Vic still stands." She explained. "I've put him in a med trance to heal."

_"Impossible, Gundark."_

"With the Power anything's possible, Doc."

_"Of course, Gundark, my apologizes. Keep your body nourished using those mage powers. I will notify following identification of venom."_

"Copy that. Will do Doc. Gundark out."

As Arianna returned her comlink to her utility belt she turned once more and glanced over at her injured child, a sudden sadness beginning to take hold over her heart.

His midi-chlorian count was high, even by Jedi standards...not that she'd ever expected any less, of course, not when one considered the boy's bloodline. The venom, on the other hand, was of a rare type not even the veteran medical officer Corporal Xan could identify, a troubling fact in and of itself.

_'I should not have left him on Coruscant.' _Arianna told herself silently with a sigh. _'I should have taken it to the courts, I should have taken the boy with me instead of abandoning him to the Jedi. If I had-'_

"Why didn't you tell me?" A male voice asked, and without turning Arianna shook her head in response to the question.

"Because, Duran, it doesn't concern you."

"I beg to _kriffin' _differ." The young Jedi cursed. "He's a Jedi, like me. Jedi take care of their own-"

"Then tell me why he's alone, on one of the most dangerous planets in the galaxy, with so much venom in his blood that he should be dead."

"Do I look like Yoda or the Jedi Council?" Duran asked. "All I know is that once he comes to he will be in a very precarious situation. There's a reason, after all, why Jedi are not allowed to know their families."

"Duran, this is my _son_-"

"Easy, Darth." Duran joked, holding his hands up. "I didn't say I agreed with it; I only said that as a warning."

"A warning?" She asked, turning to regard the young Jedi. Duran, in turn, nodded his head.

"Kitch Surik is highly intelligent and wise for a kid, attributes at the levels of some senior Jedi Knights. However, his training with the Force and a lightsaber are severely lacking. The Council would never send a mere apprentice to Termina alone, especially an apprentice like your son; there's a second Jedi lurking around here somewhere, probably a Master."

"And?"

"The Order tends to take a strict stance when it comes to apprentices and Padawans being reunited with their family, especially when that family is headed by a pair of expelled Jedi Knights."

"How'd you know-"

"Come now, _Commodore._ Do you really believe I would ally myself with someone without knowing who they are? That's how people get killed, or worse. So, tell me, what are you going to do about it?"

"What do you mean?"

:"Well, once he comes to he's bound to figure out who you are. Don't you go repeating this to anyone, but Kitch there is a genius when it comes to information and data: even I have trouble at times keeping up with his collection of knowledge. When he finds out you're his mother-"

"He won't." Arianna countered.

"He will." Duran corrected. "It may take him some time, but eventually he will."

"He won't." She repeated. "As far as Kitch is concerned Waylon and I carry the same surname-"

"You're seriously going to lie to him?" Duran asked, cocking an eyebrow. "You miss him; even without the Force I can sense that much. You regret leaving him to the Jedi following your expulsion."

"How do you know?"

"Because," Duran answered with a shrug of his shoulder. "You're too much of a goody-goody; you're a sentimentalist."

"Even as a little girl I always wanted my own family. It's something the Jedi hammer out of us from day one, the moment we arrive at the Temple. Jedi are discouraged from falling in love, are forbidden from marrying, mating, and having families. We're told this makes us better, makes us stronger. I always knew differently, though. Even as a youngling I recognized this as a flaw, a flaw that I believed, and even now still believe, make Jedi weaker."

"Boy, I can't wait to hear this one."

"Duran, I love my husband." Arianna admitted. "Looking back I can't, for the life of me, figure out how I survived without him. It's like...I can't explain it-"

"It's like before you fell in love with him half of you was missing, you were only half of who you were; now that you're together you're complete." Duran answered, taking the older woman by surprise.

"I'm surprised at you, Duran-"

"Don't read anything fancy or romantic into it." Duran growled. "You're such a bloody sentimentalist I could figure it out without even breaking a sweat."

She sighed before continuing. "The point I was making is this: in an Order where no one's allowed to experience the thrills and disappointments of love, of getting married, of having their first kid, how does it survive? This shortcoming makes the Jedi less than human, less than fully alive; how can the Order continue properly serving the galaxy while it lives in such a condition?"

"I'll gladly be the first in the line of people who will admit that the Jedi Code needs to be changed, and in big ways." Duran agreed. "However, at this moment, the Jedi Council's seen nothing to make them think this. To be perfectly honest, I believe it'll take another great Jedi purge to do that. Of course, Jedi never tend to _kriffin' _learn their lessons."

"And if that happened you'd likely be dead anyways, so it really wouldn't matter to you-"

"Please." Duran scoffed. "I could whip any ten Sith Lords any day of the week with my lightsaber tied behind my back while standing on one foot."

"It's nice to know the Jedi Order has such powerful knights." She found herself joking. "Forget Oppo Rancisis, Yaddle, Mace Windu, or even Yoda; with Duran Detreo on the case no one is safe, Sith _or_ Jedi."

"Damn straight, and don't you forget it."

"Duran, you've been a Jedi all your life." Arianna said. "Tell me, what do you think I should do about my son?"

"Don't tell him." Duran answered with a nearly-bored, indifferent shrug of his shoulders. "He'll put the pieces together sooner or rather, though my credits are on sooner: when he confronts you, though, don't lie."

Arianna nodded her head to show her understanding. "Then, when the Council finds out, I didn't put him such a position, but I also showed enough respect to be honest with him."

"If you say so." Duran said, offering another shrug of his shoulder. "I'm going to go catch some sleep; I suggest you do the same."

"Someone needs to be on watch-"

"Nah." Duran interrupted. "Hawya packed some motion-sensor devices: anyone approaches this cave, from any direction, we'll know about it before they get here. In the morning, _Commodore._"

Arianna knew the boy was right; she'd restored some of her body's depleted nutrition with the ration bar, but sleep was really what she needed right now. Turning, she followed Duran deeper into the cave, taking her position at her husband's side. All along, though, during their conversation and even after Duran and Arianna had both drifted off to sleep, none of them knew they were being watched.

* * *

{**Location: **Orange Moon District, Hydia, Inner Core}

"This is it." Colonel Shevu indicated by way of greeting as Jax approached him. "The spaceport owned by Sierra Klevs's family."

Jax stopped, giving only a nod of his head to show that he'd heard the other man's words. In silence he studied the spaceport, noting how it was set back behind and away from the surrounding buildings...had the Colonel not said anything Jax would never have guessed that this building was an actual spaceport...he'd not have even known it was actually being used.

"Taxes." The Colonel explained, as though sensing the Jedi Knight's thoughts. "The planetary citizens are forced to pay ninety-eight percent of all earned income as taxes to the Crown."

"That's preposterous."

"I agree, Master Talia." Colonel Shevu answered. "However, voicing my opinion to the monarchy will do nothing but lose me my job and cause great troubles for my family."

"And bein' in charge only o' security fer the Royal Family limits yer powers ta assist other citizens." Jax added, understanding the man's predicament as Shevu nodded.

"I believe," The other man added. "I'll let you take the lead here: the locals will likely feel better speaking to a Jedi Knight than a member of Royal Security."

Jax nodded as he moved forward towards the spaceport, his mind now fully focused on the task at hand. He was still worried about the disappearance of his Padawan, but he knew Pax would be able to take care of himself for the immediate future.

"What do you want?" The man behind the counter spat as Jax and Shevu approached, his voice full of contempt. Studying the man, Jax knew it to be the elder of the family, a man by the name of Herrin Klevs.

"Herrin Klevs, correct?" Jax asked, giving the man a bow as he approached.

"Yep, that's right, _Jedi_. I take it you're looking for your friend."

"Friend?" Jax asked, blinking in confusion. The man, however, merely nodded his head.

"Yep, Pax is what he called himself. Bloody boy speaks more like a droid."

"My Padawan has been through here then." Jax stated, surprised. "Where's he at now?"

"He took our last transport to Volcam One." The older man answered.

"Did he mention why?"

"Nope." The man answered, glaring at Shevu's insignia. "If you're going after him, though, our next ship out won't be-"

"I'm afraid I ain't goin' after my apprentice." Jax corrected. "I'm here ta speak with yeh 'bout yer daughter, Sierra."

The man snorted. "Is that why _he's _here?" The man asked, still not taking his eyes off of Shevu.

"Colonel Shevu is my guide an' visor." Jax answered. "Yeh will have nothin' ter fear by him bein' here, I promise."

"What's happened to my little girl?" Herrin asked, stepping around the counter and stalking towards Shevu, anger filling his eyes.

"Nothing has happened to her, sir." Shevu answered, meeting the man's gaze. "However, we have loose, circumstantial evidence that suggests she may have had something to do with the disappearance of Princess Wasoni."

The man clapped his hand, looking delighted. "Always knew she was a lass after my own heart." Herrin spoke. "However, if you think I had any part in getting her offworld-"

"I do not see you as a traitor." Shevu countered. "We are trying more along the lines of crossing her out as a suspect than prove she did it. The Crown speaks very highly of your daughter, sir, but if they find out that there's even a remote chance she's involved they'll have her executed on the spot; if indeed she is innocent we can't allow that to happen."

"Sierra could never harm anything." The man growled, raising his massive right fist as he continued stalking towards Shevu. "And if you think for one millisecond I'm going to allow you to blame my little girl-"

Jax placed himself between the two. "Sir, no one's tryin' ta blame yer daughter, especially when we have no proof against her. Colonel Shevu is right; if they figure out the evidence points ter yer daughter she's dead. We must make sure that don't happen."

"Then why are you here instead of-"

"We would like to see yer daughter's room." Jax explained, allowing the Force to guide his words. "We believe the friendship between yer daughter an' the Senior Princess may give us some clue as ta where the Princess is now."

"I'll escort them." A woman's voice said as a woman entered through the small door behind the counter Herrin had been standing behind upon their arrival. The face on her black-haired head was worn, her hazel eyes alive with a kind spirit that burned brightly, and the clothes covering her thin body were, old and tattered, almost as much as her body itself.

"My darling wife." Herrin explained. "Mathulda."

"Colonel Shevu, do yeh mind escorting Mrs. Klevs ta inspect their daughter's quarters?"

"Not at all, Master Talia. Madame, after you."

Jax was silent as Shevu followed Mathulda out of the room, leaving Jax and Herrin alone.

"Your friend, the other Jedi, tracked the Princess to Volcam One." The man said in a rush several moments later, as though waiting until he was sure they wouldn't be overheard. "Royal funds were used to pay for passage for not only the Princess but others as well."

"Yeh don't want Colonel Shevu knowin' this." Jax observed. The man, in turn, nodded.

"We don't trust the government, or any of their goons. Jedi, however, are different. The other Jedi, Pax, he saved my wife, son, and youngest daughter yesterday from an attack by HRS agents. I owe him one, which is why I'm telling you this."

"I understand."

"If Sierra is somehow involved in this then please, I beg you, take care of her. I know she'd never kidnap anyone..."

"Justice will be served before I leave, Mr. Klevs." Jax cut off, repeating the words he'd told the man's daughter. "I will make sure that it's true, fair justice too. When yer daughter comes home does she ever get any visitors?"

"No." The other man answered. "Her only real friend, outside of this family, is the Princess, and you're jacked up on Death Sticks and bad Tarisian Ale if you think, even for a second, that the Royal Family would allow her to visit _us_."

"When was her last visit?"

"A month ago."

"Was she acting oddly durin' the visit?"

"No more than normal." Herrin Klevs explained. "Ever since we let them take her to the palace she's been acting proper-like, always showing the right etiquette and manners, even when here at home."

"Does she ever talk 'bout anything that happens at the palace?"

"No; she's scared to death they'd find out and punish her if she did."

"Has she ever said as much?"

"Several times. She goes on and on about how strict the King and Queen are, and how 'instructive' their punishments are. My dear wife and I have tried several times to persuade her to just leave them and come back home."

"I don't mean ta intrude, but if yeh hate the Crown in such a way then why did yeh let her go ta them ter begin with?"

"It was years ago." The man explained. "Back then I was just opening up this spaceport, and we were poorer than the dirt I built it on. Sierra is my second eldest child; I wanted both her and her older brother, Tarvo, to have a better wife than their parents had, but the palace had no room for a boy, so they took only Sierra."

"When yer daughter answers yer pleas ter come home, what does she say?"

"She wants to, but she can't: she doesn't feel right leaving the Princess to her parents alone. Besides, it's not like she's just allowed to walk out."

"What do yeh mean?"

"She is officially a servant to the Crown; if she tries to walk away from the duties they appoint to her, at any time, she will be automatically guilty of treason and she will be executed. She is their servant until the day she dies, unpaid for her services and cut off from her family for all but a handful of days each year."

"Master Talia," Shevu interrupted, rejoining the two men as he followed behind Methulda. "I don't believe there's anything here that will help us."

"Very well." Jax said, offering the husband and wife another bow. "Mr. Klevs, Madam Klevs, I apologize fer interruptin' yer busy day. May the Force be with yeh." And turning he and Shevu walked side-by-side out of the spaceport and back into the Orange Moon District.

"Did you learn anything from the husband?" Shevu asked once they were out of sight of the spaceport. Jax, knowing it best if Shevu, a dedicated member of the Royal government, didn't know about his conversation with Herrin Klevs, shook his head.

"Nothin' we don't already know-"

"Hands up, both of you." A mechanical voice ordered, cutting Jax's words short. "And don't try any funny business; we have you both outnumbered four-to-one, _Jedi_."

Noting the wary look in Shevu's eyes, Jax did as he was told, knowing his best bet would be to wait until he knew what he was up against.

"Turn around, real slow-like." That voice continued, and again Jax did as ordered. His would-be captor was clad head-to-toe in Mandalorian armor with a snub-nosed blaster rifle held firmly in his arms. Behind him stood seven other humans, all dressed in different, cobbled-together body armor and sporting an array of weapons. Jax noticed something unsettling then, something that made him wonder about the Mandalorian: he wore a Jedi lightsaber from his waist.

"We know you're looking for the Senior Princess." The man continued, not bothering to introduce himself. "You're not getting that prize money; it belongs to us."

"I'm a Jedi Knight." Jax explained. "I ain't here ta earn any credits; I'm simply doin' my duty."

"I don't care." The Mandalorian spat. "The Crimson Tide don't let any competition edge in on our turf. Now, tell us what you learned from the spaceport before we lose our temper."

"I learned several things." Jax answered. "None of it, however, is any o' yer concern."

"I-"

_Snap-hiss._

Jax's emerald lightsaber blade sprang to life, coming up in a defensive stance across his body.

"I suggest yeh stand down son." Jax answered as Shevu's own blaster pistol suddenly appeared in his hand, held in an expert two-handed grip as it leveled at the Mandalorian-clad bounty hunter.

"You're all under arrest." The Colonel said. "Bounty Hunters aren't allowed on Hydia-"

"Check your regs again." A woman among the group countered. "We were specifically hired by the Royal Family to hunt down their daughter and bring her home, no matter the cost."

Jax did not like the way that sounded, not one bit. The Mandalorian had not said they'd been hired to find, rescue, or help the Princess; he'd said they'd been hired to _hunt _the girl down.

"It doesn't matter." Shevu, thinking quickly, explained. "You've threatened a member of the Royal Security Force and a Knight of the Jedi Order; you're still under arrest."

"Kill them." The Mandalorian ordered. "I could use another Jedi lightsaber on my belt."

Shevu opened fire, his shot hitting the Mandalorian armor square in the chest as he turned and rushed for cover. Stepping back, Jax began working his lightsaber in a series of simple, easy maneuvers that effortlessly deflected the oncoming barrage of blaster bolts.

Shevu's opening shot had done very little damage to the sturdy armor the Mandalorian was wearing, and Jax knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that this man was his most dangerous foe.

His lightsaber cut through the man's blaster rifle, narrowly avoiding his gauntlet-covered hands. Uttering an unintelligible curse the man backed up, pulling a backup pistol from the holster at his hip.

A blaster bolt shot past Jax's head, slamming into the face of the woman who had spoken up moments ago, and dodging a volley of shots from that Mandalorian Jax hurled his lightsaber away from him, the emerald blade arching out like a child's boomerang to decapitate two of the other bounty hunters, and on its return trip it stabbed into the back of a third, burning a hole through the man's heart as the blade's tip emerged from the man's chest.

Jax then called his blade back to his hand just in time to block yet more blaster fire being levied his way by the ever-persistent Mandalorian. As he continued batting away the blaster fire being amassed against him he backed up, moving closer to the still-firing Colonel Shevu, quickly assessing the situation: of the eight original bounty hunters only four remained: their numbers had already been cut in half.

Two.

Shevu had suddenly lashed out with a quick flurry of blaster shots, his finger continually holding down against the trigger as he sprayed the remaining mercenaries with fire, catching two more in the face. Jax, in turn, couldn't help but feel greatly impressed: the man had the accuracy often found only by use of Jedi reflexes.

Rarely did Jax use techniques such as a Force Leap and other aerobics, but this, he decided, was one of those rare times. He jumped into the air, using the Force to fuel his movements, using it to lengthen his arch in the air, using it to soften his landing a moment later.

He landed behind a woman wearing crimson armor, and as she spun around to meet the Jedi attack Jax was already on the move, thrusting his lightsaber forward to burn a hole through her armor and into her heart.

Now, with the other seven bounty hunters dead, Jax and Shevu, who had moved from his original position to a second, more sturdy cover, focused their combined attack on the remaining Mandalorian, who seemed to realize the narrow straights he was in.

"This won't be our last meeting, scum." The man said, and activating the rocket pack on his back the man jetted off into the air, leaving the pair of officers alone once more, standing tall among the fallen bodies.

"This is most troubling, my friend." Shevu said, holstering his blaster and moving to inspect each of the bodies.

"I agree." Jax said, extinguishing his lightsaber's blade and joining the Colonel in his inspections. "Did yeh hear what he said?"

Shevu nodded. "The King and Queen hired them to _hunt _for Princess Wasoni...a most colorful choice of words."

"I reckon we might need a word or two with the monarchy." Jax said slowly, cautiously, looking over at his companion. "Care ta accompany me, Colonel?"

"It'd be my pleasure, Master Talia." Shevu answered grimly. "I believe I have a few questions of my own for them. I may be in service to them, after all, but I take my duty to enforce the law seriously, and if they did hire those bounty hunters, then…come, Master Talia, let's get moving before our friend returns with reinforcements."

Turning from the scene of the battle, Shevu began making his way towards his air-speeder, Jax following in hot pursuit as he listened to Shevu send orders for additional police forces to secure the site and bodies.

* * *

{**Location: **Termina, Tingle Arm, Beyond the Outer Rim Territories}

Quietly, as though she were bored, the young acolyte entered the Sith Temple's mess hall, listening to the din of conversation that filled the massive room. Her fellow Sith, from the youngest acolyte to the older Masters and Dark Lords, were now busy with their afternoon meal, the day's training and missions complete.

She'd heard nothing from Lady Vector since their return from the jungle, escorting the unconscious Jedi Knight from the ruins of the Jedi Enclave to the Temple of the One. Darth Vector had congratulated her on a job well done: she was, as the female Twi'lek had pointed out, the first of their Lost Empire to kill a Jedi in battle in over a thousand years.

This alone, Number Eight Nine Three Seven knew, had earned her a Sith title; this prestigious achievement would make everyone respect and fear her. And yet...she could feel the anger building up inside of her as she made to acquire her own meal. Aside from her unofficial mentor, no one had even looked at her following her return: she'd yet to be rewarded, yet to be praised, for what she'd done by anyone else. Following a promise that she would receive a reward befitting her actions, Darth Vector, along with the fallen Jedi, had disappeared, likely to speak with the Dark Council and inform them of what had happened.

However, past the anger and resentment she felt, there was something else taking hold of her, an emotion she wasn't accustomed to knowing. Never before had she felt so confused in all her life. How had that pathetic excuse of a Jedi known so much about her? How had he known that she'd been tortured for days following her decision not to kill her greatest rival following the construction of her first lightsaber, barely a year ago? How had he known that she'd refused to kill the girl, citing it was worse for the other girl to live knowing she was inferior to an acolyte such as Eight Nine Three Seven? How had he known she'd secretly nursed a baby Nexu's broken leg back to health when she should have been training with her saber? How had he known, she wondered, about her long-forgotten past? Had he been about to utter her original name, a set of words she could no longer even remember?

She growled angrily, forcing herself to ignore her confused thoughts. He'd been pathetic, a joke of a Jedi. His death had been all too easy to bring about: she hadn't even broken a sweat; she'd never faced such a weak opponent in her entire life. And yet she had sensed something about him, something powerful, something commanding, something...it wasn't out there, but rather hidden...something _different._

She pushed those thoughts away as well as she grabbed her tray and began loading the food onto it. She had killed him; that was all that mattered. She had used the powers of the Dark Side, embracing them rather than hiding from them and fearing them, as the Jedi were taught to do. She had reveled in the boy's death, excited and stimulated by the fact that she'd done what no Terminus Sith had done in over a thousand years. She was, she knew, one step closer to becoming a Master of the Dark Side of the Force: perhaps even one day she would become powerful enough to challenge The One...yes, she vowed silently, the path to her future now open: one day she would rule the galaxy as the greatest Sith ever known, watching as her army of Dark Side followers descended upon a weak, vulnerable galaxy.

"It's you." A male voice said, forcing the young girl from her reprieve. Immediately, without turning, she knew who it was.

"Congratulations." She said in a bored voice. "You can see."

"My master's dead because of you." He continued, a sudden wave of darkness radiating from the Bothan Sith Apprentice. Unlike Eight Nine Three Seven, he'd become the apprentice of the now-late High Lord Ares at an early age, taking the name Cron as his reward for his advance.

"Your master was a weak, pathetic fool." She answered. "He couldn't even defeat a Jedi two-on-one in combat: he deserved his fate, Horse Face." She taunted, knowing exactly how to push the boy. Even without turning to watch as his dark brown fur began to ripple in anger she could sense the darkness spilling out from him.

"My Master was one of the greatest of our Empire." Cron growled. "What happened? Killing a Jedi not enough for you? We've all heard the rumors: you told High Lord Ares you would kill him for his constant humiliation of you...you stabbed him in the back, _coward._"

She spun around, anger welling up inside of her as her hand drifted down to the hilt of her lightsaber.

"What did you just call me, _Horse Face_?"

"You heard me, _coward_. You waited until My master and Lady Vector were engaged with the Jedi Knight, and using her as a distraction you stabbed Lord Ares in the back...like I said; killing a Jedi apprentice wasn't enough for you."

She allowed the anger to continue rising up inside of her, embracing its power and allowing it to fuel her. She smiled, baring her white teeth like a wild Nexu.

"You'll never have to worry about thinking I killed High Lord Ares. After all, his death was too quick; if I had been the one to kill him he'd have been begging for mercy at my feet: he'd have known such darkness from me he'd have been turned back to the Light Side of the Force in fear..._Horse Face_."

_Snap-hiss._

Even as she brought her crimson blade up in time to block the raging Bothan, she'd known what would happen. The Bothan now known as Cron was a powerful Sith warrior, stronger than even Eight Nine Three Seven: it was rumored he would one day be able to destroy The One and replace him as leader of the Lost Empire of the Sith. She, however, knew differently.

Cron had no patience. He was more of an animal than a true Sith, always allowing his emotions to fuel and dictate what he did, always choosing to utterly dominate and toy with his foes before destroying them. He had no use for virtues such as patience and understanding. Any opponent he bested he killed. Among the many lessons he'd failed to learn, he'd never learned that killing for sadistic pleasure-killing without reason, need, or purpose-is the act of an utter fool.

Yes, she knew, the ways of the Sith ensured that only the greatest, the most powerful, became Sith Masters. Those too weak to gain this power died, making room for the stronger. However, while the Dark Side fed off of anger, hate, and death, it also fed off of suffering and despair, and sometimes, as Eight Nine Three Seven was famous for quoting, it was more appropriate to spare an opponent so that their pain and suffering could continue on instead of ending it so soon.

Rather than full-out block the Bothan attack, she gave her blade a small, quick twist, redirecting the blade to her right. Cron, it was obvious, had not been expecting this: her move left him off balance and staggering as he too late realized his error. She could, she knew, end it there: there was nothing the Bothan apprentice could do as she retracted her blade and caught him in the shoulder. 8937, however, had other ideas.

She could feel the eyes of every being in the room watching them, waiting to see what would come of this impromptu duel between the two enemies. The rumors of what had recently happened at the Jedi Enclave, she now knew, had already spread throughout the Temple of the One, meaning everyone here had heard the story of her killing off a Jedi Apprentice by herself. However, she also knew many of her fellow Sith doubted the truth of these rumors, that they questioned the true extent of her skills. Now, she decided, would be the time for them to see just how powerful, just how ruthless, she had become.

Instead of backing off or pushing her foe away, she used the opening to launch herself into the air as she withdrew her crimson blade from his shoulder, her right foot lashing out and kicking the young Bothan in his chest, and as she landed and he fell backwards she reached out with the Force and grabbed him, levitating him into the air as his lightsaber fell to the floor and shut off, his hands now grasping pitifully at his throat, as though he were trying to force a pair of giant hands to release their hold him.

"You're even more pathetic than your master was." She growled, extending her hands forward while keeping him there in that same position. "Beg me for mercy, Cron; admit I am the better of us."

"N-never-"

She silenced the rest of his sentence with an attack of Force Lightning. The forks of electricity tore through the Bothan, his screams of agonizing pain now echoing throughout a silent mess hall.

"I am more powerful now than you will ever be, Cron." The young acolyte continued, laughing. "Your animalistic tendencies and powers have allowed you to step up the ladder towards Sith Mastery, but now you falter when faced with me, a mere _human _girl. There is much more to being a Sith Lord than mere power, than merely killing any adversary who confronts you. You are eager to please our Masters, to do whatever they want." She ceased her electrical attack and released the Bothan from her Force Choke, allowing him to fall to his knees.

"Have you ever given any thought to what will happen when your Sith Master has taught you all he can? Did you ever consider what would become of you when you had learned all of his secrets and obtained all of his knowledge?"

"I will b-become a S-sith Master in my own r-right." The Bothan answered, too stunned to move as he stammered out his words.

"How?"

"The Masters will give me-"

The blue-forked lightning erupted once more from her hands, tearing into the Bothan boy as he curled up into a fetal position, screaming in agony once more.

"The Sith give _nothing_ to their students!" She roared, allowing her dark emotions to fully engulf her, to fuel her electrical attacks. She took the storm of the Dark Side of the Force, now, and engulfed herself within it, allowing it fuel and control her, to give unlimited depth to her darkest powers, her deepest emotions, her pure, white-hot hatred for Cron, causing such intensity in her attack that he now looked like he was being x-rayed, his bones flashing white under the intensity of her heinous assault. "If you want the rank of Sith Master then you must _earn _it, you must _take _it! You must have the courage, guts, and determination to take that which you want, regardless of the cost to others!"

"I-I u-und-understand-"

"NO YOU DON'T!" She bellowed. "This is one of the fundamental differences between the Jedi and the Sith!" She explained, calling to mind now her research on the subject. "The Jedi have many weaknesses. They do not _command_ the Force, they _serve_ it. They do not _rule_ the citizens of the Republic, they _protect_ them. When a Jedi grows more powerful they are _given _a higher rank. What makes the Jedi weak makes us strong! We do not _obey_ the Force, we _command_ it! We don't _defend_ or serve our subjects, we _rule_ them! And when a Sith wants a new rank or title we _earn _it, we _take _it! Each and every true Sith-past, present, and future-has decided when it was time for him or her to become a Sith Master. They did not meet in some council, or hold discussions, they _decided_! When a Sith student has learned all he believes he can from his master, he rises up against that Master and challenges him for the title of Sith Master! The Master, desperate to hold onto that title, _meets _the challenge! Only one, the strongest, emerges alive. That is how our Empire continues to get stronger and stronger, day by day. When we rule the Empire, we will be stronger than our Masters, who are stronger than their Masters, who were once stronger than _their_ Masters. This deadly cycle continues on and on, and when at last we retake our galaxy, we will be invincible: the Jedi will be overwhelmed! Tell me, Cron: did you ever consider overthrowing your Master and assuming his title?"

"No, I-"

"Then you are indeed weaker than Lord Ares was, and you shall share his fate!" She answered, ceasing the barrage of Force lightning and staring down at the pathetic Bothan. Silently she summoned his lightsaber into her free left hand, and together with her own weapon she placed them like a pair of deadly scissors around him, his neck a single inch from their lethal jaws.

"P-please, I b-beg y-you: ha-have m-mercy on m-me-"

"Those who ask for mercy," She answered coolly. "Are too weak to deserve it."

And she then uncrossed the blades. The Bothan's head, now free of his shoulders, fell free to the floor, rolling away from the young Sith Acolyte, and, extinguishing both blades, she tossed Cron's weapon aside while hooking her own back to her waist.

Gazing around the massive mess hall, 8937 took in her surroundings. No one, not even the Sith Masters, moved to punish her. No one said anything, no one even tried to correct her. Of course, she knew: they all knew she was right. Of course, as the masters would soon punish her for, killing was strictly forbidden between all students.

Her gaze finally settled on the figure of her Sith mentor, her unofficial Master, Darth Vector. The Twi'lek Sith said nothing as the young girl approached her, accepting of whatever punishment the woman deemed proper. However, she did not condemn the acolyte's actions, nor did she approve of them: her face and eyes were completely expressionless.

"I am to be punished, I assume, my lady?"

"You shall not be."

"Am I to speak with the Dark Council concerning our great victory over the Jedi, then, Lady Vector?"

"You will not." The other woman answered, again keeping her answer short and to the point.

"Then-"

"The One has decided to meet with you in person, and in private."

8937 felt her body go rigid as her breath caught. The One was the greatest of all Sith: his will and his decisions were never challenged. It was rumored, she recalled, that at one time, centuries past, the entire Lost Empire had attempted to destroy The One in a unified attempt, and he had killed them all, and then he had rebuilt the Lost Empire a second time, moving on as if nothing had ever happened.

The Dark Council, of course, ruled the day-to-day actions of the Lost Empire. Like their enemies on the Jedi High Council, the Dark Council was made up of twelve High Lords, such as Ares. However, unlike the Jedi Council, the Dark Council had a thirteenth member, its head: The One, a leader who ruled fiercely and whose words were never challenged.

The Dark Council discussed their issues while The One listened with true wisdom: after all, even the Sith were smarter than to throw away the advice of loyal servants. Once The One had heard all points, however, he made a final decision, and no one dared go against that decision.

It was also rumored, she remembered, that no Sith ever returned from a private meeting with The One...at least, not alive.

"I am proud of you, child." Vector said moments later, as they now approached a special, restricted lift that would take them to the peak of the Temple of The One, where The One's chambers were located. "In your battle against the Jedi, you showed cunning and intelligence; you did not hesitate to kill him.

"In executing Apprentice Cron, you showed true ruthlessness, contempt, and will: you have shown everyone what it takes to be a true Sith. You are growing beyond your childish compassion, now, and embracing the true powers of the Force."

She said nothing but instead reflected on the most recent events as the pair entered the lift. She had spared her rival, Acolyte 9001, because the girl had been weak, she had been inferior to 8937's own skills and powers. She had spared the other girl not, as her Sith Masters believed, out of some sense of compassion but because the girl would serve as a living example of what 666 was capable of. She'd spared the girl out of contempt for her weakness, deciding her not worthy of the minimal effort it would have taken her to finish her off.

_'Yeah?' _A new, unknown voice asked, one she'd not heard in many, many years. _'What's your excuse for the baby Nexu you saved?'_

The girl ignored the mental question, knowing the answer well by heart. As she'd told Cron, killing for sadistic pleasure-killing without reason, need, or purpose-is the act of an utter, helpless fool, and fools were not allowed in the Lost Empire of the Sith.

"Here you are." Vector said, giving a burst of Dark Side energy to open the doors, and, not moving, the Twi'lek watched as she entered, alone, ready to accept her fate, whatever it might be.

As the door slammed shut behind her, the acolyte fell to one knee, bowing her head and forcing herself to refuse the temptation to rise and take in the massive, darkened room.

"Ah, yes, Acolyte Eight Thousand Nine Hundred and Thirty-Seven." A light, silky voice hissed. "I have heard much about you, child. Rise."

She did as she was told, quickly rising to her feet.

"As I remember, Lord Theron ordered you not to kill your Jedi foe but to bring him here, yes?"

"That is correct, my Lord." She confirmed. "However, with all due respect, he ordered me to bring him _a _Jedi, not two, or three or four, but only _a _Jedi."

"You are brave, child." The voice said. "You reinterpreted a Dark Lord's orders and took it upon yourself to kill a Jedi without authority to do so. You also executed a fellow Sith but moments ago. Tell me child, why did you kill Apprentice Cron?"

"Horse Face was weak." She spat. "He'd never once considered rising up against his master once Lord Ares had taught him all he knew. This, my Lord, is the fundamental lesson of the Sith: it is what makes us stronger than both our predecessors and the Jedi. He was a poison among your Lost Empire, my Lord; I was the antidote."

"Well spoken, child!" The One laughed, his voice humorless and just as deadly. "Tell me; when your training under your Master, Lady Vector, is complete, will you rise up and kill her?"

"With the utmost pleasure, my Lord. Were she to take me as her pupil and instruct me, I would gladly learn from her, and once she'd taught me all she knew, I would kill her, then take my own apprentice, and continue the cycle."

"If you ever believed I had no more to offer you in way of knowledge, would you kill me?"

"One day, my Lord, I will learn all you know, and then you will be inferior to me, and you will die, and I will replace you. This is, after all, the way of the Sith."

"Well spoken, child!" The One boomed. "I believe one day you may be capable of such a feat! Yes, you will become a most powerful Sith! Henceforth, you shall be known as...Maw, a title you have earned well this day."

"I thank you, my lord."

"Come here, Maw, and listen to my tale."

"As you wish, my Lord."

"Just over a thousand years ago, I was a member of Lord Kaan's Brotherhood of Darkness. He decided to overcome the mistakes of previous Sith by making all Sith equal. However, as his greatest student learned, this was a lie, a lie I learned while fighting with Lord Kaan against the Jedi on Ruusan. I left Ruusan then, and months later the Sith were all destroyed when he detonated the Thought Bomb. The Sith, the galaxy, believed, were finally extinct."

"They were wrong." Maw observed.

"Indeed." The One confirmed. "I survived; I alone, knowing his weakness, would replace Kaan and rebuild the Sith Order. Eventually, however, I learned of a second Sith Lord who had survived."

"Darth Bane." Maw answered, recalling the Sith Lord who had, according to the Archives in the sub-levels of the Temple of the One, instituted the flawed Rule of Two, stating only two Sith would exist at a time: a master, to embody power, and an apprentice, to crave it.

"He attempted to destroy me. Our duel ended in a draw, however, and I fled here, to Termina, to found my Lost Empire. While I did not agree with him over the Rule of Two, I did agree that the Sith needed to hide, collect our knowledge, and strength ourselves for the eventual destruction of the Jedi."

"No two Sith alone will ever destroy the Jedi." Maw mused. "They are too numerous."

"Lord Kaan was wrong as well. Equality is a myth designed to appease the masses. The strong are destined to rule, the weak to follow: this is how it is meant to be. I am the strongest of all Sith, and thus you all follow me. The members of the Dark Council are stronger than any Sith aside from me, and so on."

"My Lord, with all due respect, why are you telling me this?"

"Knowledge is power, and those who learn not from the past are doomed to repeat it. I have given you knowledge, Maw; it is for you to decide how best to use it. You know the past, now you must learn from it or repeat it. You are dismissed, Maw. Keep these words private. Take pride in your accomplishments, and learn all you can from your master, child. Once you have, destroy her and continue the Sith legacy."

Maw bowed before turning and striding towards the door, committing The One's history lesson fully to memory. The fact that Darth Bane had been the cause of the destruction of the Brotherhood of Darkness was common knowledge for all the Sith of the Lost Empire, Maw knew: however, no one else, that she knew of, had ever learned that The One had once been a member of the Brotherhood of Darkness, or that he'd stood toe-to-toe with the powerful Sith warrior known as Darth Bane, who, as foolish as he was for the Rule of Two, was still widely accepted as one of the greatest Sith of all times.

"Lady Vector," She greeted upon exiting the lift once more, kneeling on one knee in front of the Twi'lek. "I, Adept Maw, pledge myself to your teachings and the teachings of the Sith Empire."

"Rise, my young apprentice."

* * *

He couldn't remember much of what had happened. He remember the brief, furious duel with the young girl near the ruins of the Jedi Enclave, he remembered being just a fraction of a second too slow, costing him his lightsaber. He could remember the storm of lightning tearing through his body, causing him such agonizing pain, and he could remember the invisible fist squeezing his throat shut, making it impossible to breath. He remembered the dart pricking his neck, and he could also remember falling from the cliff. He even recalled the agonizing pain that flared his nerves and made him want nothing more than to kill himself...and then nothing. What had happened, he continually asked himself. Where was he now? _Who _was he now?

Kitch's eyes fluttered open, as though he'd been jarred awake by some kind of morning alarm in the Jedi Temple. He forced himself to sit up, using the Force to send waves of calm, healing energy through the his body, a technique most Jedi learned as younglings. Looking around, however, he took in his surroundings: he was not at the Jedi Temple, and, to his great surprise and relief, he was still alive.

His entire body screamed in protest as he climbed silently to his feet, forcing him to continue his healing techniques as he kept studying his surroundings.

To his great surprise and trepidation, however, he discovered he wasn't alone. There were four figures lying asleep, scattered all around him. On the far side of the room was a massive pile of muscle and fur, a form Kitch recognized immediately as a Wookie.

Mere inches from his were a man and woman, wrapped up together in an embrace that was definitely not proper for Jedi Knights, though their uniforms were certainly not standard Jedi issue either. And finally, on his other side was a male form, one he knew very well: his fellow Jedi, Padawan Learner Duran Detreo.

This now fully confused the young apprentice. The last he had heard from Duran, he and his master, Twi'lek Jedi Knight Ryn Dedunca, had been assigned to Dantooine...far away from Termina.

Kitch, however, decided not to wake anyone up as he moved towards the exit to the cave. He looked down at his body, noticing that, in addition to having no lightsaber, his tunic was also torn, slashed, and burnt in numerous areas...he looked _almost_ as bad as he felt.

Where, he asked himself now as he looked up at the three moons hanging low in the night sky, was Master Kavar? Had she been killed at the hands of the two other dark warriors? Had she escaped, believing Kitch to be dead? Had she been captured, or worse, turned?

He sighed, feeling despair setting in now. They had arrived at Termina yesterday, and immediately this simple mission had gone so terribly wrong. They had been shot down, injured, attacked by beings claiming to be Sith, and he had nearly died. They'd only been on the ground for two days now, so the Temple had likely not yet noticed they were missing. Lor Kavar was now missing, perhaps dead, or worse, meaning Kitch not only had to survive until help came but he also had to destroy those anti-air defenses, find Master Kavar, and, if possible, rescue the Jedi Knight. And, on top of all that, he had no idea why a Jedi Padawan was out here on Termina when he'd reportedly been assigned to Dantooine, and he had no idea who any of the others were, meaning he might have to add escaping captivity to the already-daunting list of objectives in front of him-

"They're allies." A woman's voice said. "You need not fear them."

Kitch looked up, his entire body tensing up as the blue, ghostly shimmering image of a woman approached him. Only in her late twenties or early thirties, she wore a standard set of Jedi Robes complete with the brown cloak. She was, in every sense of the word, beautiful. While the robes she worse were loose, her breast were still just large enough to attract attention, her cheeks were smooth, her lips full, and her white hair was kept up in a simple fashion that only sharpened this natural beauty. Her hazel eyes, Kitch suddenly felt, were like a Jedi Master's: they could see right through him and read him like an open datapad.

He had also seen her before, he suddenly: he recognized her image, from his studies of Jedi History in the Archives...

"I know you!" He exclaimed, realization now dawning on him like a Tatooine sunrise. "You once defied the Jedi Council by following Darth Revan into war against the Mandalorians...you're the Jedi Exile!"

The woman nodded her head.

"You truly know the Jedi Archives well, young one." She decreed solemnly. "And yet your Jedi education remains severely lacking."

* * *

**And there you have it, the end of the first chapter being updated today, the end of chapter eight. So, what'd you think? Come on, be honest...how many of you really thought Kitch had died? I know, I'm soooo evil. :)**

**So, now that 8937 has become Lady Maw, what will her next assignment be? Will she find out that her Sith-hood is based on an achievement not really accomplished, and if so, will she be able to rectify the situation? And who is the Force ghost now talking to our young Jedi? What's going to happen next? Only time will tell...**

**Or else you could just skip over to the next chapter and find out. **


	9. The Will of the Force

**Okay, here's the second chapter of the day. And, as usual, _Star Wars _belongs to Disney, not me. Now, on with the show!**

* * *

**ADDITIONAL STORIES BY**Guardian Kitch**:**

_**Star Wars: Jedi Wasteland (Star Wars/Star Wars: The Clone Wars)**_

_**Teen Titans: The Approaching Storm (Teen Titans/Star Wars)**_

_**Gates of Terabithia (Bridge to Terabithia)**_

_**Sins of the Father (Harry Potter)**_

_**Harry Potter and the Labyrinth of Evil (Harry Potter)**_

* * *

_**Chapter Nine: The Will of the Force**_

{**Location: **Termina, Tingle Arm, Beyond the Outer Rim Territories}

"Of _course_ my Jedi education is severely lacking." Kitch answered. "I'm only eleven, after all."

"Age has no jurisdiction where skills and power reign." The ghostly image before him countered, a great sadness suddenly taking over her face. "Whether you are eleven or a hundred, the fact remains: you are now the one Jedi able to stop this Lost Empire of the Sith."

"So she really was a Sith." Kitch said, realizing immediately what the woman's words meant.

"_She _is not a Sith, not yet."

"But-"

"You have a great deal to learn, my young Jedi." She interrupted, motioning for him to follow her out of the cave and into the darkened sky beyond. "And sadly," She added. "You haven't that much time to learn it in."

"Well then," Kitch said, countering the woman's sarcastic voice. "I suppose we better stop wasting what little time we _do _have."

"Always so eager to learn." She said as he followed behind her. "Do you ever stop to wonder if perhaps the knowledge you seek is best left unknown?"

"Master?" Kitch asked, stopping in confusion. He hadn't referred to her by that honorific title because of the feel he now had of a padawan being lectured by his Master, though the fact was nevertheless true. He knew her history, as much of it as was recorded, at any rate, and he knew she was, in every sense of the title, a Jedi Master, even if she'd never officially obtained the rank.

"You." She answered. "I've watched you from the day you were born, Kitch. You're so eager to learn anything you can, yet for all your wisdom and knowledge, attributes most Jedi Knights years your senior still lack, you never stop to consider if perhaps the knowledge you seek is best left alone."

"But Jedi use the Force for knowledge." Kitch found himself countering automatically. "A Jedi never stops learning."

"Indeed." She conceded. "However, knowledge is power, young one, and there is such a thing as too much power."

"Of course." he agreed. "History shows us time and again what happens when even the simplest of beings become too powerful. But what does that have to do with-"

'_Everything_." She cut off. "There is much I can teach you. I can pass to you Jedi Arts and knowledge that have been lost for thousands of years. The knowledge you seek regarding this Lost Empire of the Sith is great knowledge, but it is also terrible knowledge. It will test you in every way possible, and it will change you too. Gone will be the young apprentice who wishes to learn, the youthful innocence he's always know, replaced by a being we yet know. The lure of the Dark Side is difficult to resist, and I am afraid it will lead us down an all-too familiar path."

"All-too familiar path?" Kitch asked, now more confused than ever.

"You would not be the first Jedi to fall from grace, nor would you be the last. If you wish to face Elianna Kasumi again, and if you desire to rescue your Master from these Sith, then you will travel down a twisted road, fraught with darkness and dangers you could never imagine. You have never tasted the Dark Side before-"

"I have." Kitch corrected. "Several nights ago I had a vision of a Zabrak-"

"Your vision of Darth Maul killing Qui-Gon Jinn showed you nothing of the Dark Side of the Force. That was but a drop of water when compared with true darkness. This planet is a nexus of the Force, both an amplifier and a suppressor. The darkness you encounter will call to you, it will tempt you. And you, who have never experienced the darkness before, and you will _want _that darkness, you will want nothing more than to heed the call. It will be like living on Tatooine for the first fifty years of your life and then being suddenly dropped into the waters of Maanan; for a mere child it will be more than overwhelming."

"Age has no jurisdiction where skill and power reign." Kitch repeated, and finally, for the first time, the Jedi Exile smiled.

'So you're suggesting you have the skill and power to resist the call of the Dark Side of the Force?"

"I am."

"No matter what offers it makes you, you believe you can stand your ground firm and remain true to the Jedi Code?"

"I will."

"And if it comes down to using the Dark Side to save Lor Kavar, will you?"

"I will not. As a Jedi Knight, Master Kavar has accepted her fate when it comes to meet her, as have I. I will do all I can to rescue her, of course, but I shall never corrupt myself to save her; were I to do so, her salvation and our futures would both be tainted."

"And if I were to tell you that in every generation from my death to your birth your family has had at least one Jedi Knight give in to the Dark Side?"

"It would matter not to me." Kitch answered. "I am a Jedi, master. I study history, I learn from the past, but I do not dwell so much in the past that I fail to pay attention to the present."

"You're not afraid that-"

"No." Kitch answered. "I am _not _afraid."

"You will be." She corrected, sending a chill up Kitch's neck. "You _should_ be."

"Master, with all due respect, I don't have time to sit here and talk. Every second we delay is another second these 'Lost' Sith have to grow stronger. If you won't teach me-"

"I _will _teach you, Kitch, but first, you must remember to be patient. If you rush off to save Lor Kavar now, you'll only cost the Order two Jedi. You are not yet ready to face a Sith adept yet, let alone the Masters swarming that temple."

"If you will teach me, then I _will_ learn. I can be patient, master, but apathy is just as dangerous as impatience, perhaps more so."

"Then follow me." She ordered, turning around as she gave a subtle wave of her hand. As she gestured, several devices along the ground began to hiss and smoke.

"We do not need your new allies knowing we're out here." She explained. "I want you to practice patience. Prove to me that you can center yourself, show me that your impatient nature is a fixable flaw. Say nothing while we walk, and instead focus your mind and allow it to fall silent. Find your calm, collected center and become attuned to the powers of the Force."

Kitch said nothing but instead nodded his head, remaining silent as ordered. He wanted so badly to just storm the temple, find Lor Kavar, and get her out of harm's way. However, that wasn't the way a Jedi Knight worked. He had no idea how strong the enemy numbers were, nor did he know the layout of that temple. He had no lightsaber, and the beings holding her hostage had likely received decades more Force training than Kitch could ever dream of having. The infamous Jedi Exile, he decided at last, was right: rushing into the Sith Temple to rescue Master Kavar would only serve in costing him his own life: he'd gotten lucky enough to escape death once on this mission, and he had no illusions that the next time the Sith would be hesitate to finish the job.

Kitch instead turned his attention to the Jedi Exile. He had studied all about her, or at least, as much about her as he was allowed. He knew her early years were still much of a mystery, and that when the Jedi Knights-turned-Sith Lords, Revan and Malak, had rushed off to do battle against the Mandalorians she had been among the first to heed their call to arms. According to her service records, she had distinguished herself as a brilliant strategist and commander, eventually accepting the commission of General. Towards the end of the Mandalorian Wars, however, her records were vacant, sealed off in the depths of the Jedi Archives with access limited only to the highest of Jedi Masters.

Following the Mandalorian Wars, she was the only Jedi to refuse the call of the Dark Side of the Force, a call that seduced even Revan and Malek, and while that famous pair of Jedi and their fleets disappeared the Exile returned to Coruscant to face judgment on her actions, and when expelled from the Order and thus exiled from Republic space, she had, albeit defiantly, surrendered her lightsaber, accepting the Council's judgment.

During the period that followed, during the ensuing Jedi Civil War and the Dark Wars that followed, the Exile traveled the fringes of the galaxy while a trio of Sith Lords cut a path of destruction through the galaxy following the end of Malak and the disappearance of Revan, clinging to the shadows and failing to reveal themselves to the Order.

According to Jedi Archive materials Kitch _could _view, she had returned, assembled a small squad, and had gone after the Sith Lords Darth Scion, Darth Nihilus, and Darth Traya. Once the three were defeated she had then assisted in rebuilding the Jedi Order, allowing it to survive the First Great Jedi Purge, though she had all too soon disappeared, allegedly to find Revan, only to never be heard from again.

He knew the Council had likely restricted the more detailed data on the Exile from general viewing by members of the Order, and he knew that, being the Jedi High Council, they had their reasons, but now, walking side-by-side with a Force-ghost so strong and so solid she seemed real, he wished he could have been allowed to see that information: he felt as though he suddenly needed all the information he could find on this ancient woman.

Sensing his anxiety beginning to rise up inside of him, the young apprentice took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it, again going to his calm center. He was a Jedi, he reminded himself. He might only be an apprentice, but he was still a member of the Jedi Order, and now, with so much at stake, he needed to act like one. The woman walking beside him had, three thousand years ago, saved the Jedi Order from total destruction. She had defeated three very powerful, very cunning, Sith Lords, the evil beings who'd killed all but a dozen Jedi. Where thousands of Jedi Knights had failed, _she _had succeeded. If there was anyone on Termina Kitch could trust, he knew that person would be the Jedi Exile. He also knew most beings would be cautious about trusting a ghost they'd just met, especially when that ghost was leading him further and further away from the beings who had just saved his life. However, he also knew those beings would be wrong. The Will of the Force, he saw clearly now, was at work here. As so many Jedi were prone to say, nothing in the universe happens by coincidence, and luck was a mythological illusion. The Force had guided Jocasta Nu into suggesting that he tag along for this mission, just as it had guided Master Yoda and the Council in agreeing. It had guided them safely through the crash-landing on Termina, and it clearly had saved Kitch from a certain death, and all so that he could be here and now, learning from one of the most famous (and infamous) Jedi in history.

"I'm proud of you." She said suddenly, her soft, smooth voice cutting through his personal retreat like the blade of her ghostly lightsaber. "You've just learned your first important lesson in being a true Jedi Knight."

"Master?" Kitch asked, and not for the first time he felt like she was reading his mind as though it was one of the simplest texts inside of the Jedi Archives.

"You've learned to trust the Will of the Force." She explained. "The Force is akin to a living being, young one; it has both a Light Side and a Dark Side, and it has its own will. A Jedi's main purpose is to be at peace with their mind so that they can objectively listen to the Force's Will and achieve that Will's goal.

"The Sith, on the other hand, allow their passions, desires, and emotions to rule their lives. They think inwards, only of themselves and what they can gain with their powers, ignoring the Force's desires in the process. They are never truly at peace, and thus they always fail to understand the true meaning of the Will of the Force."

"There is no Emotion, there is only Peace." Kitch responded, citing the first line of the Jedi Code.

"Precisely." She agreed.

"No matter the emotion, I must ignore it. Anger, hate, fear-"

"No." The Exile corrected, her voice suddenly going stern and hard. "You must never ignore your emotions."

"But I-"

"To ignore your emotions is to perverse yourself, to twist the very fabrics of nature into something sinister, something unnatural."

"Master?"

"All emotions exist within us all. Passion, love, happiness, kindness, amusement, anger, hatred, fear, surprise...they are each part of what makes us whole. A Jedi, however, controls these emotions. We acknowledge them, we accept them for what they are and what they can teach us, but we do not allow them to command us and the decisions we make. When you feel angry, you take deep, calming breaths, acknowledge the anger, and allow it to flow from you."

"I think I understand." Kitch answered. "That's where so many Jedi go wrong: they ignore their feelings rather than accept and master them."

"In a way, yes. Others, however, allow these emotions to control them, and in turn they fall, far and hard."

"May I ask another question?"

"You may."

"Earlier, you said that there is some knowledge that would be better off left unknown."

"I did."

"Can you explain what you meant, because I'm confused now. There is no Ignorance, there is only Knowledge. A Jedi is always learning, always seeking to expand his knowledge-"

"Have you ever considered _why _so many of the texts, so much of the data, held within the Jedi Archives, is restricted for Jedi Masters alone?"

"I have."

"Do you know the answer?"

"Because," Kitch answered dutifully. "The data in the restricted vaults are too powerful, too dark, or too dangerous for mere apprentices and Knights to study-"

"And thus you have answered your own question."

"Master, I'm sorry, but I still fail to understand what you mean."

The woman's ghostly eyes now took on a haunted look, as though she understood what she was trying to say perfectly, as though that understanding had been gained firsthand.

"Knowledge is the glow-lamp that illuminates our path through Ignorance's darkness. Each piece of knowledge we gain strengthens that light just as little, and slowly we push the darkness further back. As the cave grows brighter, however, we begin seeing skeletons, grisly remains that will stick to our minds for decades to come.

"Knowledge is the army with which we combat Ignorance's never-ending invasion. Each piece of knowledge is another legion of soldiers for that army, another devastating weapon we wield into battle. As our army strengthens and our arsenal grow, we become a more powerful nation. Before long, none can stand before us, and when we see this we crave more, and as we conquer that craving it strengthens us, leading us down a path that will destroy us and those around us for centuries to come.

"As I said before, there are powers I could teach you, powers that no living Jedi would know about. I can teach you how to use the Force to manipulate the atmosphere, allowing you to conjure up fierce, deadly twisters that could level entire continents. With the Force I could teach you how to pull every molecule of oxygen from a planet's atmosphere, allowing you to strip entire star systems of every last form of life. At my side you could learn how to go back in time and manipulate the flow of the Space-Time Continuum as you see fit. Do you still want to save Qui-Gon Jinn from death? I could show you how to do it; it's a lot easier than it sounds. Or perhaps you would prefer to gain the power of stripping those who transgress against you of their connection to the Force. Learn this power and you would hold even the Grand Master of the Jedi Order hostage with no choice but do as you demand. I can make you invincible, Kitch. I know an ancient power that would allow you to rip the life energies from those around you and absorb it all into your own body, healing all of your wounds and fatigue as though they were never there. Or, a nasty power indeed, you could learn how to invade the minds of even the most powerful being in the galaxy. I could show you how to determine their fears, their thoughts, their worries, and their sorrows: you could unhinge them, drive them insane, or corrupt them and make them willingly do your bidding. You could learn to use the Force to become invisible to anyone else using its powers. You could stand before the Grand Master himself and he'd never sense you; you'd become the perfect assassin like this...no one would ever even know you're there.

"With the Force under your command there is nothing that's impossible. You can give life, and you can take life. You can make even the largest stars go supernova with a mere _thought, _or you can help sustain a star even when it's a moment from implosion, keeping it alive as long as you want. Would you not agree that this is a powerful list of knowledge, Kitch Surik?"

"I-wow." Kitch breathed, caught on her every word. "I never knew such powers existed."

"They od." She confirmed. "All of it, and much, much more, I assure you. That kind of knowledge would make you the most powerful being in the galaxy, perhaps even in galactic history. You can seek and find this knowledge, Kitch Surik; you have that power inside of you. Now tell me: should you find this knowledge? Should you learn these powers?"

Kitch shook his head furiously. "I could do tons of good in the galaxy with those powers, but it would change me, as you said earlier. I would be lying to myself, pretending something evil is something good, and the Dark Side would keep the masquerade up until it had me fully in its grasp; by the time I saw the true, it'd be too late to save myself."

"So you see, there is much knowledge you should never wish to learn, and the same can be said with the truth. The truth is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution."

"Master?"

"There are many mysteries and questions you will come across during the span of your life, however long you may live, and some of those answers, some of those truths, will be answers and truths you'd be better off not knowing.

"For example, back during the Dark Wars, when I was traveling the galaxy, hunting for clues as to what had happened to the Order and how I could regain my status as a Jedi, I began hunting down the trio of Sith responsible for the destruction of the Jedi Order.

"Two of the three were relatively easy to find. Darth Scion, the Dark Lord of Pain, was constantly hunting me, so finding him was nothing compared to evading him. As I regained my Jedi Powers I began to attract Darth Nihilus, the Dark Lord of Hunger. The third Sith, however, was nowhere to be seen, not until right before I defeated the Lord of Hunger."

"Who was he?"

"_She _was a former Jedi Master named Kreia. She fell to the Dark Side and became Darth Traya, Dark Lady of Betrayal. She was once one of Revan's greatest mentors, and when I returned to the known galaxy to save the Jedi Order, not knowing her true identity, I submitted myself, for the most part, to her training.

"We had our disagreements and arguments during the course of our adventures together, yes, but I still held her close to me, for she was my friend, my mentor. Imagine, therefore, how I felt when the truth finally set in upon me. How would you feel, then, if you discovered Lor Kavar was really the Sith responsible for the events on Naboo?"

Kitch said nothing, but he knew how he'd feel; even though Lor wasn't officially his master, he had learned a lot from her, and he had grown close to her over the past few days; to find out she was really a Sith Lady would gut him, it would cripple him: it might even kill him.

"The greatest piece of wisdom you can ever carry with you, Kitch, is to know when to seek knowledge and when to refuse and ignore knowledge."

"This girl," Kitch said slowly, carefully changing the subject. "How did I know so much about her?"

"Many species believe that one's eyes are the path to one's soul. I believe, through the Force, when you dueled young Adept Maw on the ruins of the Jedi enclave, you traveled that unbeaten path to her soul, and you saw who she truly is."

"She's not fallen fully, not yet." Kitch explained. "She can be saved."

"To recall one from the depths of the Dark Side is a difficult act, one most consider impossible. Through the annals of history, only a handful of Sith have ever renounced the Dark Side of the Force to re-embrace the teachings of the Jedi. When you fight her again she will not be so silly as to leave you for dead without proving your demise. If you fight with the intention of taking her alive whilst she duels with the intents of killing you, you'll be at a disadvantage. Are you so sure you're prepared to try and redeem her?"

"I will not _try _to redeem her." Kitch growled. "Do or do not, there is no try. I _will _pull Elianna Kasumi from the Dark Side of the Force, even if it costs me my life."

"Why not kill her?" The Exile asked. "Why not kill her and live to fight another day? It will be the easiest way of defeating her-"

"No." Kitch countered. "I need not kill to defeat an enemy. If I destroy the darkness within my foe they become my friend: am I not most victorious when all of my enemies are called my friends? I know she can be saved, Master, and I will not give up on her. I sensed her through the Force, and despite all her darkness I did sense some light in her, silver lining the dark storm clouds that make up her Sith training."

The Jedi Exile smiled once more as she gave an accepting nod of her head.

"The path you're embarking upon is a dangerous one. It is narrow, and riddled with danger. If you're truly committed to redeeming this girl, then you must quadruple your Jedi training, immediately.

"There are some skills and powers I can teach you to help you redeem the young Sith Acolyte, but they will come with their own dangers, and I will only pass on that knowledge once I am sure you're ready, once I know for sure you'll be able to resist the call of the Dark Side of the Force."

"I gratefully accept your teachings, Master. I will not fail."

"For your sake, and that of Elianna Kasumi, I hope not." The Exile answered. "This is where your training will begin." She continued, and for the first time Kitch realized they'd stopped walking, now standing side-by-side in front of a small cave entrance.

"What is my mission?"

"First, you must construct a new lightsaber, a true lightsaber. From now you will begin training and learning with your lightsaber as a Jedi should. I understand your dedication to Form Zero, my child, and I applaud it, but as proven by your last encounter with Lady Maw you are laughably weak in combat. I will teach you how to hold your own when crossing blades with Elianna Kasumi. Now, come: at the back of this cave is a gift, a gift I sealed away until the time came for me to pass it on to my one true heir."

"Jedi don't have heir-"

"Descendant, then." She corrected herself, and at that word Kitch's blood ran cold.

"D-descendant?"

She nodded. "Back before I was exiled from the Jedi Order I was known as Meetra Surik."

His vision began to go black as his heart stopped and his skin began to crawl, but forcing himself through it he took a deep breath, fought his stomach back down into his abdomen, and then clung to his calm center. He'd always wanted to know her true name, of course, but this...he'd never before even considered...

"The truth,' Kitch repeated weakly. "Is a beautiful and terrible thing, and therefore should be treated with great caution."

* * *

**Yes, I know this chapter was short, much shorter than any of the others, but it's still important, as this has laid important groundwork for later events. So, what'd you think? Will Kitch be able to redeem Lady Maw, who's now revealed to be Elianna Kasumi, the little girl Kitch's parents are searching for, or will he be forced to kill her? Will he be able to find Lor before shes killed or, worse, turned to the Dark Side?**

**Well, now it's time to switch gears with the next chapter...**


	10. Cloak of Deception

**Well, here's the final chapter of the day. If you're still here reading, then thank you, and I hope you like it. Also, I'm getting tired of saying this, but Disney owns _Star Wars_, not me. Now, let's get the show on the road. And yes, this chapter is over double the length of the previous chapter.**

* * *

**ADDITIONAL STORIES BY**Guardian Kitch**:**

_**Star Wars: Jedi Wasteland (Star Wars/Star Wars: The Clone Wars)**_

_**Teen Titans: The Approaching Storm (Teen Titans/Star Wars)**_

_**Gates of Terabithia (Bridge to Terabithia)**_

_**Sins of the Father (Harry Potter)**_

_**Harry Potter and the Labyrinth of Evil (Harry Potter)**_

* * *

_**Chapter Ten: Cloak of Deception**_

{**Location: **Royal Palace, Volcosis, capital city of Volcam One, Inner Core}

The emerald lightsaber blade passed directly in front of Pax Onasi's face, filling his human nostrils with the scent of hot, burning lightening-struck ozone. Alone with only former Senior Princess Melody Wasoni of Hydia, awaiting their audience with the Exalted Emperor of the Vryn, Pax had taken to practicing the most basic drills with his lightsaber, the same training saber he'd owned back before becoming a Padawan Learner.

Bringing his blade into a two-handed grip, he brought the weapon's powerful blade back up to his right shoulder, the blade standing straight up while his elbows were stuck out...the basic stance of the Forth Form of lightsaber combat, better known by Jedi as Ataro.

"Wow, you must really not have a life." Melody muttered, watching him through now-sleepy eyes.

"I am a Jedi." Pax answered, moving his lightsaber now as though he were deflecting blaster fire from incoming enemies. "I must always practice so that I may become better at what I do."

"And what, exactly, is it that you do?" She asked.

"Defend the Republic, of course." Pax answered, again bringing his lightsaber back into that Jedi-ready stance, his elbows again tucked out. "Jedi are the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy."

"And the greatest known warriors."

"Jedi are not warriors. We are keepers of peace-"

"Who happen to use the strongest weapons in the galaxy." Melody answered. "That green blade of yours can cut through any substance known to galactic beings today. It can deflect any known weapons fire, and with a mere stroke it can kill someone, or dismember them in any number of days. You have the ability to tap into a power source that, scientifically, can't even be proven to exist. Sounds an awful lot like an advanced warrior to me."

"Jedi do not kill-"

"And yet wherever Jedi go a line of bodies usually appears right behind them."

"Jedi do not take lives, innocent or hostile, unless we are given no other option. We use our powers to avoid conflict, not to win in combat or to conquer our enemies." Pax considered this final word for a moment before continuing, now echoing a line many of his Jedi teachers were so often fond of saying. "A Jedi's only real enemy is darkness and ignorance."

"Still sounds like a bunch of Bantha spit to me." Melody responded, standing up. "I've never seen the use of calling something-or someone-by one name just to make them sound better, especially when there's another name that more suits them." She gazed at the lightsaber. "May I see it?"

Pax nodded his head, switching off the blade as he did so, flipping the weapon over in his hand to offer it pommel-first the young girl.

"I hear Jedi make their own lightsabers." She said, inspecting the hilt closely.

"We do construct our own lightsabers, yes."

"When did you make this one?"

"I did not construct this lightsaber-"

"But you just said-"

"Jedi apprentices are given training sabers, like the one currently in my possession, with which we practice and use until we become Padawan Learners. Once we're a Padawan Learner it is up to our new master and the Jedi Council to decide when we're ready to construct our new sabers."

"Why not just build one now?"

Pax found himself laughing. "I am not ready to construct my own lightsaber. To build a lightsaber is among the most complex actions any single being could ever make. It takes time, patience, knowledge, skill, and understanding to create such a device."

"Could you build one?" She asked, tossing the hilt of his lightsaber from hand to hand to test its weight.

"I just explained-"

"I know what you just said." Melody countered. "Do you think you _could _build one? If your master and the Jedi Council ordered you to make one right now, could you do it?"

"There are several pieces of equipment I would need, but yes, I do believe myself capable of constructing a lightsaber."

"Then why don't you do it?"

"I am not ready to take on such a task."

"But you just said-"

"I know perfectly what I just told you, my lady." Pax laughed. "But my belief in my skills is greatly biased. After all, every being, Jedi or otherwise, likes to believe nothing but the best in his or her own skills: that is why it takes such wisdom to admit to one's shortcomings. My master and the masters on the Jedi High Council, on the other hand, have no such prejudices: they see my skills perfectly as they currently are."

"What's the risk-"

"Each lightsaber uses a crystal or natural gemstone as its focus, the ultimate source of its power. The crystal alone is perhaps the most hazardous piece of a lightsaber."

"How so?"

"If a lightsaber's focusing crystal is flawed, in any way, then the results are catastrophic. See the red stud at the top of the hilt?"

"Yeah."

"That's the activation stud: depress it once, if you would."

She did as he suggested, the emerald blade snapping to life with a loud, crisp _snap-hiss._

"If there were anything wrong with the crystal in my saber the blade may not have come on, and in a situation where I am being called to defend myself, say, from a squad of battle droids, then I would likely perish. However, the chances also exist that the weapon would explode, taking my arm and perhaps even my life. And, if I may point out, these are only the basic problems of a lightsaber when dealing with the focusing crystal. There's also-"

"I get it, I get it." She said, swinging the blade around in front of her slowly, her eyes perfectly tracking the emerald blade through its lazy movements. "Why aren't these weapons more common?"

"As you yourself explained previously, it has the ability to cut through anything we know of; without the Force to guide you in the use of your weapon the chances are far too high that you might inadvertently cut off your arm, leg, or other body part, or harm a friend or acquaintance. My lightsaber, however, is set to a lower setting, so an accidental touch will merely burn, not dismember, its victim."

"Why's yours set to a lower power?"

"It is this way for all apprentices who have yet to build their first lightsaber. We are still learning the basics of using our weapons, so to protect us from harm we use them set at much lower settings."

"Fair enough." She said, shutting the lightsaber off and tossing it back to its proper owner. "Of course, I don't really see why you don't just use blasters; they're safer, per say, and just as deadly."

"Blasters are uncivilized and random. When you go into a firefight armed with only a blaster the chances are high that someone innocent is going to be injured. A lightsaber allows me to take only the shots fired at me and return them to their owners as needed, thus injuring the aggressors and allowing them to stand trial for their crimes. My great friend, more of a brother, really, has a different theory for this reasoning."

"Oh?"

"He seems to believe that a Jedi lightsaber is a symbol. He quotes often that using a blaster one can kill from a distance, thus never even seeing your victims face; with a lightsaber, however, one must get close to one's victim to kill him, thus it reminds us to mourn for a life lost. He also believes that the lightsaber symbolizes the thin line Jedi constantly walk, the line between life and death."

"And you?" She asked. "Do you agree with your friend's symbolism-based idea?"

"I can see where his theory comes from, yes, but personally, I tend to stick to my own theory. Kitch is the wise one of our classes, not me."

"I dunno." She shrugged her shoulders. "You sound more than smart enough to me."

"I do tend to theorize that I am intelligent, yes, and I thank you for such a compliment, but there is a difference between knowledge and wisdom."

"How so?"

"Knowledge is how much information one might hold inside of his or her brain, whether that knowledge is general or subject-specific. Wisdom pertains more along the lines of discretion and judgment. Knowledge is gained through studies while wisdom only comes to one after time and/or experience."

"Madame Wasoni," A masculine voice said as the doors behind Pax opened up, and as he turned around the young Jedi clipped his lightsaber back to his belt, ready for whatever might happen next. "I apologize for the delay, ma'am, but Emperor Dregan will see you now."

"Thank you." Melody said as she and Pax made to follow him through the doors.

"Just follow my lead." She whispered to Pax. "The Vryn distrust everyone who comes from the capital; politicians, judicials-"

"But I am a Jedi."

"And especially Jedi." Melody finished, casting Pax a furtive look. "Look, when we get before the Emperor just get down on one knee and say nothing until you're spoken to directly. Show as much respect as he deserves, and if you're not sure about how much respect to show then show extra."

"I am assuming you've met Emperor Dregan before, yes?"

"Oh yeah." She replied happily. "Emperor Dregan and I have become regular old friend."

"I am pleased to hear this." Pax said. "His name sounds familiar though; I know I should recognize it, but my mind is suddenly blank with why I would know that name." He was about to say something else, but what, exactly, it was he had been about to say suddenly escaped his mind and his memory, for at that moment the trio had entered the throne room, and even for one as used to the grand designs as those found in the Jedi Temple as Pax he could not help but be in awe of this throne room.

It was, for lack a better word, gargantuan. It's size alone was big enough, Pax quickly calculated, to hold a star cruiser, and the domed ceiling was meters above them, made up almost entirely of glass painted a deep orange color with the effect being that the room looked even darker orange than most of the planet's surface did. Though it, too, looked as poor as the rest of the planet, there was still some grandiose about this room.

Along the far wall sat a massive throne, and as Pax followed behind Melody and their guide he couldn't help but notice that the Vryn man who sat in the throne was almost as big as the throne itself.

Standing before the throne Pax did as Melody had instructed, dropping to one knee and bowing his head until he was spoken to.

"Melody, my dear, your message said you needed to speak to me about an urgent matter; dare I ask what's happened? And who's your new boyfriend?"

"It is as we feared, your highness: my parents have disguised my disappearance as an abduction, rather than admitting I saw the truth about their pathetic crown, allowing them to involve the Jedi."

"I see." His voice sounded dark, angry. The danger radiating from within that voice was so powerful that Pax was nearly overcome by the urge to draw his lightsaber and defend himself. "So your boyfriend here's one of the Jedi sent to investigate your 'abduction', is he?"

"He is, your highness."

"Well, young Jedi, now that you know the truth what have you to say?"

"I merely say that my initial theory of the Senior Princess's abduction is as I believed."

"You knew before coming here that she had run away?"

"Not precisely, your highness." Pax answered, now looking up to make eye contact with the Vryn ruler. "Upon our initial investigation of the scene of the crime-"

"There was no scene of the crime." Melody corrected.

"There was." Pax answered. "The monarchy staged an invasion of your private chambers to make it appear as though you had been abducted. They attempted to present this scene to my master and I to make us believe bounty hunters had taken you. The facts and forensic evidence, however, failed to match their story. I sliced your private terminal and discovered you had erased all of your private data, save for a complete layout of the Hydian Royal Palace."

"You discovered the hidden tunnel under my bed, which eventually led you here to Volcosis."

"That is correct, yes." Pax answered.

"So, do you believe what she's told you, or do you think we forced her to say this?"

"I believe her word, your highness." Pax answered. "I can sense no duress coming from within her, nor do I get any sense that she has falsified anything she's told me. I also theorize that the assassination attempt against the monarchy was her idea and hers alone."

"So, is there any reason I shouldn't just kill you here and now, to protect my people?"

"It would be against Republic laws. Plus, I can be of assistance." Pax offered. "What you're planning, whether you're in the right or in the wrong, is considered illegal, and while Hydia would pay for what they have done, so would you."

"Are you threatening me, young Jedi whelp?!"

"Of course not, your highness." Pax answered immediately, choosing his word much more carefully now. "I would not presume to be so arrogant. However, allow me to contact the Jedi Council, inform them of the plan being initiated by the Hydian monarchy, and they will then persuade the Senate to allow us to arrest them. If I am correct then arrest, for the former Senior Princess's purposes, would be just as beneficial as assassination. In fact, I theorize it might be more so, for the Vryn will appear to be taking the high road, the legal road, to protect themselves. I can also provide another alternative, one that would forsake your debt to Hydia."

"What are you talking about, whelp?"

"Once we arrest the monarchs of Hydia, Melody Wasoni could take the crown-"

"I've already said-"

"Just long enough to pardon the Vryn debt." Pax finished quickly. "Then you could forsake the Crown and force elections to begin."

"That's never been done before-"

"Neither has the plan you're now wishing to put into effect." Pax corrected. "If you will follow my plan then the current monarchs of Hydia will get that which they deserve, the Crown will be dissolved, the Vryn debt erased, and none of us will face any repercussions for what has been done.

"If you follow through with your current plan then the current monarchs will die, the Crown will dissolve, but the Vryn will still owe Hydia this colossal debt, and the Jedi Order will be forced to bring you to justice."

"Look," Melody growled, pulling her pistol from the holster on her hips and aiming it at Pax. "Just because I allowed you to build a rapport with me doesn't mean I'll hesitate to blast your face off...there is too much on the line for me to get chummy with anyone from the Republic."

"You Jedi are all the same." The Emperor added. "So convinced of your own superiority that you never stop to think whether or not what you're doing is right-"

"Your highness, with all due respect, I understand-"

"YOU UNDERSTAND NOTHING CHILD!" The Emperor of the Vryn stood, and if he'd been large before colossal and gargantuan were both understatements about how big he was now. He stepped closer towards Pax, his fists raised.

"For centuries now," He continued, backing Pax up away from the throne. "The Republic Senate has ignored the plight of our people. When Hydia infringes on our planetary rights and we seek help from the Republic, the Senate does nothing! Hydia doesn't even get a slap on the wrist. When we seek to renegotiate the contract between us and the Hydians, the Judicial Department refuses to allow it! And when Hydia launches a raid against one of our mining worlds and steals our precious resources the Jedi come to investigate, but they do _nothing_! They come ask some questions, view some security videos, and then return home to their comfortable temple and say the Hydians did nothing wrong! The only time your kind ever comes here without being on the payroll of those filthy pig-neighbors of ours is to take our young to become your Jedi! Fourteen years ago one of you came here, found my son to be attuned to your Force, and manipulated my dying wife into letting you take him. Never mind that he was next in line to lead my people, as much as they are-"

"I KNEW IT!" Pax shouted, cutting off the Emperor. He had suddenly recognized the man's family name, and the young Jedi suddenly felt shameful heat rising up into his face.

"You knew what?" The other man asked, his voice dangerously low.

"Your son is one of our own." Pax repeated what the man said. "I know him."

"You do?"

"Yes, your highness, I do. He is one of my best friends. His full name is Duran _Zar_ Zi'Detreo Dregan but only his closest friends, our teachers, and the Jedi Council know it. He prefers to be addressed only by his first name. But by the stars; I never knew he was royalty-"

"He's not." The Emperor cut off. "Your vaulted Council made sure I understood this once they took legal custody of him. As long as he remains a member of the Jedi Order he has no birthright other than to defend a galaxy that cares nothing for him or his people."

"Excellency," Pax said, choosing each word carefully. "I respect the position you are in. I do know you are a great, powerful, and wise ruler who will only do that which is best for his people.

"I also understand the damage the Republic has done to your people, and on behalf of the Republic I humbly apologize. If you will accept my assistance then I will do everything within my power and abilities to assist you in freeing yourself from the crushing debt you owe your galactic neighbor, and once this is settled I will also personally investigate the failure of the Jedi Order to protect your people…you have my word."

"I do know some about your Order." He responded. "You're not allowed to investigate anything, involve yourself in a planetary matter, without Jedi permission-"

"With all due respect, your highness, you're wrong. Jedi can only interfere in planetary affairs once an official request is made by planetary leaders. You, Emperor Dregan, can make that request."

"I don't trust you, whelp. Right now I should kill you and wash my hands with this madness. However, I also know that when a better plan is offered, one that cuts out the consequences of a lesser plan, it's not wise to discount this plan. Put your credits where your mouth is, boy: contact your Jedi Council and tell them what you've just told me."

"I shall do so immediately."

"Melody, my dear, if this does work, would you consider taking the Crown long enough-?"

"Emperor Dregan, in not even a standard week you've treated me more like a daughter than my own parents have ever done: if taking the Crown, according to this Jedi's plan, will help your people then it would be my pleasure."

"Very well. I will personally escort you both to our Communications Center so that I can witness this whelp's conference with the Jedi Council in person."

Pax followed Emperor Dregan and Melody Wasoni to another door, one off to the side and barely noticeable. Behind him four of the silent, proud-standing guards took up flanking positions, and while it might look to normal eyes like an honor guard, Pax knew better: he could tell that the minute he made even a single wrong turn those guards would have their weapons shouldered, and he, Pax Onasi, Padawan Learner to Jax Talia, will have wished he had stayed on Hydia.

Pax, however, let it go: he knew well enough already to not make any move without the Emperor's permission. A question, however, did continue to nag at the back of his mind, one he made a mental note to follow up on later, once he had gained the Emperor's trust.

Why were he and Melody Wasoni so close? Why was the Emperor of Volcam One working so close with the former Senior Princess of Hydia? What had happened to make this man trust the heir to a government he and his people had long despised? What made him so confident that she was not secretly working with her parents?

Pax knew better than to think, for even a mere moment, that Melody Wasoni had come to the Emperor of the Vryn, asked for help in assassinating her parents and destroying the monarchy of Hydia, and the man had immediately agreed: whatever else one might say about Emperor Dregan, he was not, by any definition, stupid.

Yes, Pax concluded: there had to be something between this unorthodox pair, something that made them trust each other one hundred and ten percent.

* * *

{**Location: **High Courtyard, Royal Palace, Hydia, Inner Core}

"Jedi Talia, Colonel Shevu," A female aid said, striding out of the blast doors that led to the Throne Room of the Royal Palace of Hydia. "King Wasoni and his beloved will see you now."

Jax nodded as he and Cia Shevu, head of Royal Security, fell into place behind the royal aid. Upon their return from the Orange Moon District the two had attempted to speak with the monarchs directly, but with Royal Court in session they had been forced to wait until called.

The minutes had ticked slowly by into hours, and Jax had been forced early on to use Jedi calming techniques to remain patient. Cia Shevu, apparently used to these waits, had been unfazed.

Now, as the sun was beginning to set over the western horizon, they were finally being admitted to speak with the king and queen of Hydia.

Even after all these hours Jax had heard nothing from his Padawan, and were it not for his Jedi training the older Jedi Knight would have already began turning the planet upside down in a frantic search for the boy…something that had tempted him multiple times over the past several hours.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down once more. Pax was a Padawan Learner, and while this was his first assignment outside of the Jedi Temple Jax had to trust that he would be able to take care of himself.

At the time he'd given Pax permission to investigate the tunnel and its ending environment alone he'd been confident in the boy's abilities. Now, however, he was beginning to question that decision. What if the boy had run into the same bounty hunters he and Colonel Shevu had encountered? Would he have won, or would he have lost? And if the latter was true then had he been captured, or killed?

He quickly discounted this possibility: he would have sensed it through the Force if his Padawan had died…though secretly he feared this might be the reason he could no longer sense the boy through that all-binding web of energy.

"Something troubling you, my friend?" Shevu asked as they walked through the beautiful blast doors.

"My Padawan: I would feel better about them bounty hunters if I knew where he was."

"The surviving Mandalorian had a lightsaber on-"

"It wasn't Pax's." Jax cut-off. "Thank the Force."

"Then I would relax, Master Talia: for now there is little we can do for the lad: if you would like, though, once we get done I'll have some of my men canvas the Orange Moon District and surrounding areas, see what they turn up."

"I would appreciate it, Colonel. I'd look for him myself, but that'd take me from this urgent matter of finding the princess."

A second set of doors opened, and now the young aid stood to the side, motioning for Jax and Cia to move ahead and into the Throne Room.

During the course of his short life Jax had seen several throne rooms, command centers, and other seats of planetary power, but not once had he ever seen a single room look so elegant and vein.

The domed room was at least as tall as the bottom half of the Jedi Temple, perhaps even taller. The dome itself was half transparisteel painted in every known color, and going up the height of the room were several balconies with medium-height guard rails, and every level but the top the balconies were full of royal-guards, matching twins to those guarding the front of the palace, armed to the teeth and looking alert, ready for any excuse to open fire.

On the floor in front of them were several hover pods, set into the floor until such time as they were to be used. Shevu led Jax onto the pod in the middle, and no sooner had they stepped into the pod then they hummed to life, hovering higher and higher into the air as they rose closer to the top.

Guard railing sprung up on all sides, completely enclosing the pair inside of the pod, and while on most planets this would be done for the safety of the device's user Jax had a sneaking suspicion that the Hydians had designed it like this to "imprison" their guests.

When at last the pod came to a stop they were only feet away from the top of the dome. This top balcony, Jax could now see, was also the most eloquent and beautiful. The double throne was made of pure gold and platinum, sitting among a range of exotic flowers and miniature trees. The king and queen sat side-by-side, surrounded by a hoard of perfect, silent attendants ready to bow to their every wish and whim. Jax felt the urge to shake his head and sigh: while there were citizens chafing in horrible conditions in the Orange Moon District and other similar sections all around the planet under the system of paying nearly every credit they earned, the monarchs were wasting their money like it was never-ending.

"Identify yourself and state your business." A protocol droid ordered, its voice monotonous and perfect.

"Jax Talia, Jedi Knight." Jax said. "I am here ta update the monarchy on the status o' my investigation an' ta ask a couple o' questions."

"Cia Shevu, Colonel, Royal Security. I am here to add insight and to ask some questions of my own."

"Have you found my daughter, Jedi Talia?" The King asked without preamble. There was no apology for the prolonged wait, no explanation of emergency business, just a man who seemed to be worried about his daughter...a facade Jax suddenly saw clearly through. Immediately, knowing the danger his words would soon put an innocent girl in, the knight's tactic changed.

"After investigatin' the scene o' the crime an' speakin' ta the few available witnesses, it's my official conclusion that Melody Wasoni was _not_ kidnapped by outside forces."

"Do you care to say that again, _Mr. _Talia?" The queen barked. "Did you not see the state of her private chambers?"

"I did, yer highness." Jax admitted. "An' the evidence proves that the forced entry was a lie: the Senior Princess's private chambers were fabricated ter look like they do."

"Are you saying we lied?" The queen growled.

"My apprentice believes this is possible, yes." Jax answered. "I however, believe that someone on the inside helped kidnap yer daughter."

"Like who?" Asked the king.

"I have yet ta make a list o' possible suspects. One name, however, that sticks out, is Sierra Klevs."

"Her handmaiden?" The king asked.

"She had access." Shevu explained. "She had means and opportunity, but the motive is unclear. We have no clear evidence at this time one way or the other, my liege."

"You mentioned your apprentice, Jedi Talia." The queen said. "Why is he not with you?"

"He is investigatin' other leads on his own at this moment."

"Alone, without your guidance?" The king asked.

"I trust his abilities." Jax answered, forcing confidence into his voice. "His skills are advanced fer his age."

"So you would not, by chance, have ordered him into hiding following his attack on several of our Hydian Revenue Service agents?"

"I apologize, me lady, but I don't know what yer talkin' 'bout."

"Hours ago a young Jedi came across one of our tax collection teams." The king explained. "He interfered, impeding them in the performance of their duties, and killed all but one."

"With all due respect, yer highnesses, Jedi do not kill unless-"

"Tell that to families of the two guards he killed!" The king roared. "Tell that to the wives and children of the men we're now having to dole out credits to pay benefits to!"

"Again, yer highnesses, if Pax was forced ta kill government agencts it would only have been in self-defense-"

"It doesn't matter." The king answered. "Murder of any Hydian government official, for any reason, is punishable immediately by execution!"

"What are yeh tryin' ter hide?" Jax asked the question before he'd even thought about it.

"What? Did? You? Just? Say?" The queen asked, standing to her feet.

"I apologize fer my lack o' tact." Jax said. "But it seems curious that as I find out yeh lied to us upon our arrival you're hearing reports of my apprentice killing two of your government agents. It begs the question: what are yeh tryin' ter hide?"

"You are well out of line, Jedi." The king growled, still not joining his wife in standing up.

"In addition," Jax moved on as though there'd been no interruption. "Colonel Shevu an' I ran inta some bounty hunters earlier. They claimed ter be workin' on yer payroll. Accordin' ta yer laws, anyone who is found ta have hired bounty hunters can be executed as well."

"You-"

"They said yeh hired 'em ta hunt fer yer daughter. Not find, or rescue, or recover, but _hunt_...very interestin' choice o' words, don't yeh think?"

"You would trust the words of bounty hunters, here illegally, I might add, over the word of the greatest beings in the galaxy?"

"Grand Master Yoda has said nothin' 'bout this case." Jax retaliated coolly. "An' I know yeh have issues with the Vryn...yeh seem convinced they're involved...perhaps yeh've kidnapped yer own daughter ta set them up-"

"That's it." The king roared, now standing up. "We revoke the permission of the Jedi to investigate this issue: clearly, requesting your assistance was a mistake. Colonel Shevu, escort the Jedi back to his ship: he has fifteen standard minutes to vacate this planet and our jurisdiction before we arrest him and charge him with espionage, punishable by execution."

_Snap-hiss._

Jax brought the lightsaber up into a defensive position, the green blade sitting diagonal across his body.

"I shall comply with yer request once I've recalled my Padawan-"

"Pax Onasi is hereby charged with and found guilty of assassination of two government officials: the moment he's seen he will be executed for his crimes."

Jax felt fear and anger begin to rush up inside of him, tempting him to attack the king and queen. The sound of hundreds of rifles cocking and swinging towards him, however, forced him to keep himself in check.

"Murder o' a Jedi is a galactic felony-"

"Not on Hydia. You have fourteen minutes, Jedi-"

"Jedi Talia, you will come with me." Shevu ordered, his own pistol aimed directly at the Jedi's head. Jax turned to regard the man, and in his eyes he could see a something, a promise: this man was even more on his side now than ever before.

He extinguished the blade and returned the hilt to his belt.

"Very well." Jax said, bowing towards the monarchs. "I apologize for my actions."

"Dismissed." The golden protocol droid declared, and immediately the pod began to descend once more.

Jax said nothing as he followed Shevu through the courtyard and then through the depths of the palace, silent as he walked behind the other man, forcing himself to calm down and ignore the well of panic threatening to overtake him.

Pax was now missing, and he, the boy's guardian and mentor, was leaving the child, who was on his very first mission outside of the Jedi Temple, behind on a hostile planet where he would be hunted relentlessly for a crime he had not committed, a hunt that would only end with his death. Not arrest, Jax thought bitterly, but execution.

Any doubts the Jedi Knight had once had on whether or not Pax's assumption that the rulers of this planet had anything to do with their daughter's disappearance were now destroyed.

While he had focused mainly on what role the girl's handmaiden had played in the abduction of the Senior Princess the back of his mind had begun connecting the pieces as if the desired picture was that of the monarchs being responsible, and now it was all but official that they were indeed guilty.

"Do not worry, Master Talia." Cia spoke so softly Jax almost failed to hear him. "I'm on your side. The Crown has just turned me into an enemy they'll wish they'd never met."

"Colonel, my friend, I don't need yeh ter do anythin' drastic-"

"Don't worry, Master Jedi: I've long been past the adolescent, rookie level of doing anything stupid. I want the Crown to continue seeing me as their greatest asset, their go-to guy."

"Hence yer words in the Throne Room."

"I understand you're worried about your student, and you have my word that I will personally make sure he's found by the right people and escapes the witch hunt the king and queen seem determined to enact."

"Once I'm out o' Hydian space I'll contact the Republic, relay what we discovered, an' see where they want ta go next."

"Do you think they'll issue arrest warrants for them?"

"Doubtful." Jax answered honestly. "The most we'd be able ter charge them with is obstruction o' justice an' impeding the investigation o' a Jedi Knight...let us face it, Colonel: the Republic is too corrupt for those charges ta ever stick."

"Perhaps with our new Chancellor in charge-"

"Palpatine is a politician, nothin' more or less. He told the Senate what they wanted ter hear so they'd vote him in, an' he won. Now that he's Chancellor he'll be like all the other big-time politicians. A Padawan is missin', however, an' trapped behind hostile lines here on Hydia: the Jedi Council will not let that go: I reckon we'll have an entire Jedi strike team on the ground here before too long."

"I have your comlink codes, so I'll let you know the moment we find something on the boy, one way or the other, Master Talia."

"I appreciate it, Colonel Shevu." Jax said as they approached the exit to the palace. "I reckon it's silly ter worry 'bout the kid; he's as capable a Padawan as they come, but this is his first mission outside of Coruscant-"

"It's not silly, Master Talia." Shevu corrected. "I have a girlfriend and anytime she goes out by herself I worry about her...and she's as capable of defending herself as I am. I think having a child, even if he were a Jedi, missing and he being hunted for immediate execution would send me over the edge."

The blast door opened and Jax led Cia out of the palace and onto the beautiful walkway, golden-armored guards at perfect attention on each side of them, ready to fire on a moment's notice.

The same enclosed speeder was waiting for them just passed the parallel lines of guards, but this time there was a cloaked figure waiting for them, his/her head bowed as though thinking.

"Colonel Shevu, Jedi Talia, I have been ordered to escort you to the Jedi's ship."

"Handmaiden Klevs?" Shevu asked, suspicion thick in his voice.

"Yes, Colonel: the king and queen wish me to accompany you and report back to them to ensure the Jedi's departure goes according to plan."

Jax nodded as the girl got into the shuttle ahead of them, and following Cia Jax did the same thing, and once the doors were closed the speeder zipped ahead, the pilot droid already programming the course into the navigational systems.

"Master Jedi, you told me this morning that if I ever need to speak to you I could contact you at any time."

"I did."

"You were right." She began, lowering the hood of her cloak. "About everything: the king and queen are playing you."

"I reckoned as much, oddly enough. How so?"

"I was being honest with you when I said I don't know what happened to Melody. I do know, however, that the king and queen are desperate to find her, at any cost."

"Why?" Jax asked, reaching out with the Force to determine whether or not the girl was lying.

"A couple of weeks ago Melody and I were exploring the lost tunnels and maintenance routes throughout the palace when we overcame a conversation between the king and queen."

"What kind of conversation?" Jax prompted.

"You must promise me, Master Jedi, that no matter what happens you'll protect me: if the king and queen ever discover I know this, _any _of it, they'll kill both me and my family."

To his surprise (and relief) he discovered that the girl was being fully honest with him, unlike their morning conversation at the diner earlier. Not even bothering to think on it he nodded his head, confident that his perception and senses were spot-on.

"Yeh have meh word, dear."

"In less than a week the Repayment Period for the debt Volcam One owes Hydia will begin."

"What happens if the Vryn are unable to repay the debt?" Jax asked thoughtfully. This time, however, it was Cia who answered his question.

"According the contract between the two planets, should Volcam One fail to repay the debt within seven standard days of the start of the Repayment Period, they will be forced to allow their planet and colony worlds to be annexed by Hydia."

"It's beginnin' ter make sense." Jax declared, the puzzle now clearer than ever. "Melody an' you overheard this, I'm takin' it."

"That's nothing." Sierra answered. "Once Volcam One is annexed and becomes Hydian territory the Republic restrictions on the Hydian fleet disappear and the fleet will be allowed to quadruple in size and power...once this new fleet allowance is met the king and queen plan on blockading the planet off, and to make sure the Republic is fully cut off they plan on using Interdictors equipped with gravity well projectors to disable the use of the three main trade routes."

Jax felt his heart grind to a stop as he realized what this meant. "Hydia is the official _and _geographical merging spot of the Hydian Way, Perlemian Trade Route, and Metellos Trade Route...Coruscant would be cut off from almost every other planet in the Republic...the Republic would be brought to its knees."

"Something's amiss: they have to know that the Republic will turn to the Jedi to make sure this never stands-" Shevu began, only to be cut off by the young handmaiden.

"Volcam One." Sierra explained quickly. "There's a very rare, metallic mineral, and in all of known space Volcam One is the greatest single source of it-"

"What mineral?" Shevu asked. The handmaiden, however, only shook her head.

"I don't exactly know: I can't remember-"

"Please don't say it's Cortosis alloy." Jax felt his breath leave his lungs as he spoke, as though he'd just been sucked into space.

"That's it." Sierra confirmed, immediately.

"I don't understand." Shevu said. "What's so special about Cortosis?"

"Cortosis is highly resistant ta blaster fire, an' o' every known substance in the universe, Cortosis is one o' the only ones able ter withstand a lightsaber blade. It's always been extremely rare, but with the destruction o' the planet Apatros two hundred years ago it's become even rarer."

"For centuries," Sierra continued. "The Emperors of Volcam One have always refused to allow any of their Cortosis to be mined. If the Crown succeeds in this plan of theirs then Volcam One will be Hydian territory, allowing the king and queen to overturn that law."

"The Republic wouldn't just hit its knees: it would die. With soldiers equipped with Cortosis armor we'd be unable to stand against them."

"They know this." Sierra confirmed. "They believe the Senate would have no choice but to bow to their every wish and demand."

"They're right." Jax confirmed.

"They plan on having only a single demand."

"What?" Jax and Shevu asked simultaneously.

"For Chancellor Palpatine to stand down and cede full power to them. They then plan on issuing Enemy of the State declarations for all Jedi, past and present, and have them executed."

"That's treason." Jax gasped...now the picture _was _perfectly clear.

"The Republic has no military force of its own." Shevu explained. "They would have no choice but to do as requested, and with Cortosis armor even the Jedi would be unable to stop them."

"This is treason at its worst." Jax repeated. "This will warrant an immediate arrest-"

"If we can prove it." Shevu cut in. "Handmaiden Klevs, do you happen to have any tangible proof of this?"

She was silent and still for a moment before slowly nodding her head.

"I made an audio recording of it: I've got it right here." She said, pulling a datapad from her robes.

"Handmaiden Klevs, you said both you and Princess Wasoni overheard this conversation."

"Yes, sir, I did."

"Why have they not silenced you like the princess?"

"They don't know I know. Melody let them catch her at it so that I could escape. She said her punishment would be less severe than mine would be...I'm more expendable than their only heir."

"Once we're free of Hydian space I'll contact the Republic and secure an arrest warrant: we'll move before they have the chance ta mobilize their military forces...head the threat off before it has a chance ter take effect."

"In the meantime I'll check around, do what I can to secure your apprentice's safety; I'll contact you the moment I find anything."

"I appreciate this, Colonel."

Together, side-by-side, the two men stared one another in the eyes. The head of Royal Security on Hydia and a mediocre Jedi Knight, committed totally to the ideals of the Republic, saw the monster that no one else saw, a Krayt Dragon moving to rip the Republic's throat out and swallow it whole. Together, accepting their destiny for what it was, the two men nodded and agreed to do whatever it took to slay the Krayt Dragon before it could taste victory, even if saving the Republic's life meant trading their own in the process. In that precise moment along the space-time continuum, the two men became more than mere comrades, more than just brothers-in-arms: they became friends.

"Think nothing of it, Master-"

"It's Jax." Jax interrupted with a shake of his head. "If anyone's earned meh friendship then it's you."

"As have you, my friend." Shevu extended his hand, and immediately Jax took it firmly in his own and they shook, and neither of them knew that when future generation would speak of the downfall of the Hydian monarchy this would be the moment they all agreed it began.

Several moments later the speeder came to a stop before the _Consular_-class cruiser known as the _Antares_. As Jax, Cia, and Sierra swung out of the speeder Jax motioned to Sierra to board the ship while he turned to bid farewell to his new friend. Before he could speak, however, the other man's comlink beeped, and as he answered Jax listened intently.

_"Colonel Shevu, this is King Wasoni. We've charged Sierra Klevs with kidnapping our daughter and she's been found guilty. We believe she may attempt to rendezvous and escape with the Jedi: you are to prevent this at all costs."_

"It will be done, my liege. I may need reinforcements." Shevu answered, disengaging the king's call and pulling his blaster pistol from its holster.

"My friend, run, now." Shevu whispered, taking aim at the Jedi Knight. Then, louder, he barked out "Stand down, Jedi, and prepare to be boarded: Sierra Klevs has abducted our Senior Princess and will pay the price!"

_Snap-Hiss._

It was like a planned dance. Shevu opened fire and Jax expertly deflected the shots with his green blade of plasma, taking care to make sure each shot went too wide, too high, or too low.

He grabbed Shevu in a powerful Force grip and launched him through the air, hoping he didn't do too much damage as the other man went crashing to the ground. A moment later, however, Shevu was climbing back to his feet, and deactivating his lightsaber Jax summoned the man's pistol to him, making a mental note to return it once he came back, provided he ever did return here, and then he activated the landing ramp's console, and as it closed behind him he could hear the faint sirens of police speeders, and hooking his saber back to his belt the Jedi Knight turned and took off for the cockpit, ordering his new charge to buckle into her crash webbing.

* * *

{**Location: **Royal Palace, Volcosis, capital city of Volcam One, Inner Core}

Almost two hours had passed since Pax's initial meeting with Emperor Dregan of the Vryn and the Jedi Council had yet to answer the primary contact request from the Volcam palace...usually the Jedi Council, Pax had always thought, were very-

His train of thought cut off as twelve blue, shimmering miniature figures appeared before Pax on the old, worn holo-projector table.

_"Padawan Onasi," _Jedi Master Mace Windu began without preamble. _"We apologize for the wait. Jax believes you're still on Hydia: what are you doing a system away?"_

"I apologize most sincerely, masters." Pax began. "But Master Talia allowed me to investigate one of our few leads on my own: that lead led me to Volcam One."

_"Have you found out anything about the missing Senior Princess, Padawan?" _The dark-skinned Corellian, Adi Gallia, asked.

"I theorize, Master Gallia, that I can do you one better than that: I _found_ Melody Wasoni."

_"On Volcam One?" _Mace asked skeptically.

_"She was never abducted, masters; she ran away from home."_

_ "Told you this, did she?" _The diminutive Yoda asked calmly.

"Yes, Master Yoda."

_"Is she there with you, Padawan Onasi?" _The wild-looking Oppo Rancisis asked. Pax, in turn, looked up at Melody, who in turn nodded her head.

"She is, Master."

_"Princess Wasoni," _Mace addressed. _"Could you step forward?"_

Melody quietly approached the table, and while little changed before his eyes the young Jedi knew that back on Coruscant Melody's blue ghost was now visible for the entire Council to see.

_"Pax," _Mace said, turning back from Melody to Pax. _"We've just spoken with Jax. He has been expelled from Hydia."_

"Might I inquire as to what has happened?" Pax asked.

_"Charged with abducting Princess Wasoni, her handmaiden has been." _Yoda began. Before he could continue, however, Melody cut the ancient Jedi off.

"Sierra?" And for the first time Pax could hear fear and worry in her voice. Yoda, in turn, nodded his head.

_"Hmm. Escaped with Master Talia, she has. Expelled, your master has been, for discovering the truth."_

_ "She told us that the two of you overheard a plot of treason against the Republic." _Mace took over. _"She says that they plan on using the Period of Repayment to annex Volcam One, use the combined fleets to blockade the planet, and then mine the Cortosis on the planet to make them invulnerable to Jedi forces."_

"It's true, Master Jedi." Melody confirmed. "Once they control Volcam One they plan on mining the hidden Cortosis veins to make armor for Hydian soldiers. In addition, many of the ships of our planetary fleet are equipped with illegal gravity well projectors."

_"Infected Hydia, as well as the Senate, corruption has." _Yoda surmised. _"Hmm. Knew of this plot in advance, you did."_

It wasn't a question. Melody, in turn, nodded her head.

_"Why did you not come forward with this knowledge?" _Now it was the cone-headed Cerean named Ki-Adi-Mundi speaking.

"With all due respect, Master Jedi, I could not trust the Republic to do the right thing. My parents are among the richest beings in the galaxy; the chances of my word alone would do very little to persuade the Senate to take action."

"Masters," Pax said suddenly. "Might I acquaint you with Emperor Dregan of the Vryn?"

The behemoth of a man who served as the Vryn Emperor walked forward, giving a slight nod of his head to the assembled members of the Jedi Council.

"Emperor," Pax continued. "Would you be so kind as to repeat your initial plan of attack to the Council?"

Emperor Dregan did. Once done, Mace Windu shook his head. Pax, in turn, spoke up, not giving the man a chance to speak.

"I have constructed a plan of my own, masters, one that will avoid assassination."

_"Listening, Padawan, we are." _Yaddle, as green and diminutive as Yoda, though several centuries younger, urged, as calm and collected as the rest of her fellow Jedi Masters.

"We move in and arrest the monarchs of Hydia. According to their laws, Princess Wasoni would become the next Queen of Hydia. She would then be allowed to force all Hydian forces to stand down and also forgive the full debt owed by Volcam One to the Hydian people. Once this has been made official she would surrender the Crown, and in accordance with Hydian laws elections would have to be held. The crown would dissolve, the traitors would be arrested, the Volcam would be free and could begin the economic recovery, and democracy wins the day"

It was several moments before anyone spoke.

_"Sound, the Padawan's plan is." _Yoda said at last. _"Hmm."_

_ "The Senate would have to approve the forgiveness of this debt." _ Mace explained.

"Masters," Pax said, a sudden idea springing to life inside of him. "Might I pose another suggestion?"

Mace nodded his head.

"If I could secure a full copy of the original contract, as it stands now, I could forward it to Kitch there on Coruscant: he is, after all, a genius when it comes to data. If he could find some kind of flaw or loophole the Senate would be more open to agreeing with our plan."

"We have a replica on file." Emperor Dregan added. Yoda, however, was shaking his head.

_"Unavailable, Apprentice Surik is."_

"Master?" Pax asked, taken aback. What would Kitch be doing at the Temple that'd make him unavailable.

_"Kitch," _Mace explained. _"Is currently on assignment with a Jedi Knight in the Outer Rim Territories."_

_ "What about Madame Jocasta?" _Plo Koon asked. _"She is more experienced in these matters than young Kitch, and she is still here at the Temple."_

_ "Very well." _Mace answered. _"Emperor, at your convenience forward us a copy of the contract."_

The Emperor said nothing but gave a curt nod of his head. Behind him Pax heard a door hiss open, and a moment later a young Vryn female appeared next to the Emperor, handing him a sheet of flimsi-plast and moving back out of the conference. In two seconds he'd read it and was wadding it up and throwing it angrily across the room.

_"Your Excellency," _Yoda said immediately. _"Troubles you, something does. What has happened?"_

"Our scouts have reported that the Hydian fleet is being mobilized at this very moment."

_"For what?" _Mace asked.

"Blockade." He answered.

"Who?" Pax asked, afraid he already knew the answer.

"Hydia." The man answered, shaking his head furiously. "I'm sending orders now to mobilize our own fleet: the Hydians want it rough then we'll give them rough."

_"Do not open fire against the Hydians." _Mace ordered. _"Any hostile actions you make now will only widen the confrontation. The Republic itself is at stake-"_

"TO THE SIXTY HELLS WITH YOUR BELOVED REPUBLIC!" Emperor Dregan roared. "WHAT HAVE YOU EVER DONE FOR US?! EVERYTIME WE TURN TO THE SENATE OR THE JEDI FOR HELP WE GET _KRIFFIN' _SCREWED WORSE THAN A HARLEQUIN! NO, IF THE HYDIANS WANT VOLCAM ONE THEN THEY'RE GOING TO PAY FOR IT DEARLY, WITH THE BLOOD OF THEIR SOLDIERS!"

_"You will stand down, Emperor Dregan." _Mace declared, his voice sharp, full of authority. _"You will do nothing to further aggravate this situation-"_

"Yeah?" Dregan asked. "Try and stop me. Captain Sevatho, I have-"

Pax was suddenly a blur of motion. As the Captain in question moved towards his leader the young Jedi was already at work, summoning Melody Wasoni's pistol into his outstretched hands.

His movement was ever-fluid as he flipped the power selector to its stun setting, and before any of the other guards and the Captain could respond Pax was taking aim and firing, the blue rings of energy washing over target after target until only he, the Emperor, and Melody Wasoni remained. Gasping for breath Pax then tossed the blaster aside and unclipped his lightsaber from his belt, waiting to activate it.

"Excellency," He said, stopping for a moment to catch his breath: he'd never expected such a use of the Force would cost him so. "I respectfully request that you calm yourself and show proper respect to the Jedi Council, and more importantly, to yourself and your crown."

"Boy-"

"I understand that your only objective is to protect your people, Emperor, that is something I truly respect and admire. It is for that reason that I request, respectfully, for you to use your brain to its full capabilities and think this through."

"Pax-"

He cut the heir of Hydia off as he continued his speech. "If you move to engage the Hydians now, Emperor Dregan, then it will be only the Republic that suffers. The Hydians have installed illegal interdictor technology aboard their vessels: we have no intelligence on what other illegal and/or unknown technology their ships may or may not be packing.

"Now I know the Republic has always overlooked you and your people in the past, whether it was intentional or not. As Master Yoda said earlier, the Senate is corrupt, hence the recent and unorthodox manner in which Palpatine of Naboo was just elected to the seat of Supreme Chancellor. Both the Galactic Senate and the Jedi Order have failed you, and on behalf of both I again apologize.

"You must, however, trust us one more time. We will not allow the Hydian plot to destroy the Republic succeed. We can stop them, sir, but only if we work together. I have heard it said before, and now I shall repeat it: united we stand; divided we fall."

"The Republic has no standing military-" Dregan began. Pax, however, silenced the man by igniting his lightsaber's emerald blade.

"The Republic has the Jedi." He explained. "Through history we have protected the Republic against every threat, from the Sith down to the smallest bands of pirates...we will protect her from traitors, as well."

"Why should I trust you?"

"I have seen the plight of both your peoples." Pax said, looking from the Vryn Emperor to the Hydian Princess. "If you attack only they will suffer, and if the monarchs of Hydia succeed that suffering will spread like a fire in the wild across the galaxy. If sacrificing my life would save even one of your people from such a fate, I would do so instantly. I trust you, Emperor, with both my life and the lives of your people; now I ask you to trust me in return."

Emperor Dregan nodded his head in response. "Fine, I will trust you one more time. However, mark my words as true: if you fail us again, in any way, then I will deal with the Hydians, _my _way, and once their planet is ash I will open our Cortosis veins, and I will not rest until the fires of the Seventieth Hell washes like water over your beloved Jedi Temple."

"I am thankful to the Force we will never live to see such a day." Pax responded, shutting his lightsaber off and hooking it back to his belt.

_"Emperor Dregan," _Mace said finally, interrupting the dialogue between the two. _"This Council will soon be meeting with Chancellor Palpatine to bring him up to speed on the situation."_

_ "Called for an emergency meeting of Congress, he has." _Yoda explained. _"See now, we will, how our new leader handles this lethargic corruption. Your permission, we seek, in allowing Jax Talia and Sierra Klevs to land on Volcam One."_

"Another Jedi?"

"My master." Pax explained. "The second half of the Jedi Team assigned to find the Senior Princess. He is in company of Melody's friend, as well."

"I'll allow it." He answered.

"Masters, when can we expect additional Jedi Teams?" Pax asked, already curious as to who would be sent next

_"Sending no additional Jedi are we." _Yoda answered. _"Precarious is this situation; aggravate this situation, more Jedi would."_

_ "Padawan Onasi," _Mace said, taking over for the Grand Master. _"Jax reported that he ran into bounty hunters on Hydia-"_

"Bounty Hunters are outlawed on Hydia." Melody corrected.

_"Hired by your parents, they were. To find and silence you, their mission will be. Know too much of their plans, you do."_

_ "Pax," _Mace continued. _"You are to stay on Volcam One and protect the Senior Princess at all costs Once we reach Jax we'll brief him as well: he should be joining you within the hour. We will contact you again once we hear from the Senate."_

"I understand fully, Master Windu."

_"Do not let her out of your sights, Padawan." _Adi Gallia added. _"Wherever she goes so shall you go as well."_

_ "Do not initiate hostilities with anyone." _Ki-Adi-Mundi ordered. _"However, do not hesitate to defend either yourself or your ward."_

_ "May the Force be with you." _Yaddle added, a sentiment echoed by all other eleven Jedi Masters.

"May it be with us all." Pax corrected, offering a bow to the collection of Jedi Masters before the transmission cut off.

"I apologize, your highness, if my actions were-"

"Save it runt." Emperor Dregan cut him off. "What you did was stupid, and usually I'd take great pleasure in killing someone for what you did, but you also showed some bravery and tenacity in what you did: you just may make a decent Jedi after all."

"I still apologize-"

"Never apologize, kid: it shows you're second guessing what you did...in this galaxy second guessing any choice you make is a weakness that others will exploit. Be proud for what you did."

"I-thank you, your highness."

"I suppose that since your new mission is to protect Melody you ought to take the spare bed in her quarters."

"Your highness," Melody cut in, and as Pax summoned her pistol back to his hands and turned to offer it to her grip-first, he noticed her face was quickly reddening with embarrassment. "I-"

"I know it's awkward for you, my dear, but the ol' baldy there was right: these bounty hunters are after you, and once they discover you're here on Volcam One they'll be gunning for you."

Pax felt the urge to laugh at the reaction the legendary Mace Windu would have at being called "Ol' Baldy".

"You're lucky you're a _kriffin' _Jedi." Melody muttered, holstering her stolen weapon. "Come on, I'll show you to my-I guess _our_-room, let you use the 'fresher before your boss arrives."

Pax watched the girl, who was slightly older than him, turn and lead him towards the exit, and suddenly there seemed to be something different about her, a difference that was starling clear...and yet the intellectual Padawan could not see what that difference was.

* * *

{**Location: **Air Taxi, en route to Chancellor Palpatine's office, Coruscant, Deep Core}

"Troubling, this turn of events is." The mass of ancient, wrinkled leather of green said, his ears drooping in thought. "Bold, this Hydian plan is."

"This _is_ a dangerous situation." The slab of dark brown duracreet answered. "If the Senate fails to make a timely decision this could well be the twilight of the Republic."

"Even more troubling, I find it, that sense this plot we could not." Yoda added. "Fear, I do, that the return of the Sith has cast into shadow more pressing threats."

"This second Sith Lord remains our top priority." Mace countered. "That is why Lor and Kitch were sent to Termina: if any of that data is still intact then we may be able to find the Dark Lord and stop him before he can train another in the ways of the Sith."

"Sense I do, that so easily destroyed, this Lord of the Sith will not be. Hmm. Grave danger, our young Jedi are in."

"They have yet to check in." Mace agreed. "However, Termina is on the other side of the galaxy, Master: I would hardly be surprised if communication with the Temple proves impossible until they come closer back to us."

"Nevertheless, remains the fact does: a hand in these events, the Dark Side has. In grave danger, we are."

"Forgive me, Yoda, but I refuse to accept that this plot, as bold and organized as it is, will destroy the Republic. There have been take-over attempts before, in both our lifetimes: this isn't the first, nor do I suspect it will be the last."

"But win every battle, no one can. Not Mace Windu, not even Yoda." Yoda countered. "If lose this battle, we do not, then perhaps the next battle, or the battle after that."

"A very wise and powerful Jedi Master once told me that we can only trust the currents of the Force and accept the path its eternal river takes us down."

"The Will of the Force, it is, that Jedi Talia and his Padawan were brought together and sent to Hydia on this mission. Of this, no doubt can there be. Hmm. Yes, meant to intercept this plan and stop it, we are. Hmph. Nearly forgot that Jedi Master of yours, I did."

"I agree with Master Yoda." Adi Gallia, who had so far remained silent, said. "I believe Jax's Padawan did a great job in calming the Vryn Emperor down and making him see reason."

"Much to learn, the padawan has, though learned much already, he has."

"The boy's skills are advanced for his age." Mace added.

"Advanced, he is: perhaps _too _advanced."

"Master?" Adi asked.

"To be so attuned to the Force at such a young age, dangerous it is."

"Hence the reasons for our teachings." Mace explained.

"But, if willing to listen a student is not, then teach him, we cannot. Lucky, we are, that listens so easily, Padawan Onasi does. Unlike other Jedi I have known at that age, he is, hmm Master Windu?"

The small Master cast a humorous look up at Mace, who chose not to reply to Yoda's gentle jib at his training, all those years ago.

"Still, I feel we must take our next steps with great care." Mace said. "We're caught between a government given too much and a government not given enough. One's been pushed too far, and the other hasn't been pushed enough."

"The Vryn threat: believe it, do you?"

"I do." Adi answered honestly. "I've seen Vryn warriors in action." She explained. "They're well-trained, ruthless, and smart: even the Mandalorians always took care to avoid them."

"Emperor Dregan's words were spoken out of danger." Mace countered. "Once he calms down-"

"Spoken out of anger, his words were." Yoda agreed. "What makes them so true and dangerous, this is. Yes, Master Windu, with great care we must tread, or trade one enemy's threat for another, we will."

* * *

**And thus the puzzle begins to come together. The Hydians plan to take over the Republic, and that path goes through Volcam One. So, what's going to happen, I wonder? Will the Republic and the Jedi be able to prevent the fall of the Republic, or do the Hydian monarchy have more tricks and allies hidden up their sleeve.**

**Hehe...only time will tell. So, until next time...**


End file.
